EF0 tornado touched down in Pittsburgh during Wednesday’s storm, NWS says

PITTSBURGH — Outside of the rain, a few fallen branches, and debris on the ground the average person may not realize that a tornado went through the Highland Park neighborhood, but experts told Channel 11 News that an EF0-tornado went through multiple city neighborhoods on Wednesday evening.

“We [confirmed]circulation, and we may have a tornado debris signature, so we will need to look more into that and see if there is any damage on the surface that is correlated to that,” said Colton Milcarek, a meteorologist with National Weather Service.

On Wednesday evening, experts with the National Weather Service told us that as the storm swept across our region their radar system showed that winds had created a circular motion and picked up speeds between 60 to 80 mph.

On Thursday, our Channel 11 News crews followed them as they searched for damage and signs of a tornado.

“We started at the end of the tornado track and worked our way back towards the beginning,” he explained.

We began the day in Bloomfield where initial reports came in, and then traveled to the Lincoln-Lemington area where the damage was still visible.

“We are looking for special signs trees down but potentially crossed over might signify some conversion there,” Milcarek said.

As we walked on foot into the St. Peter’s Cemetery the path of the tornado became more clear; we saw snapped branches, missing shingles on homes, and downed trees on top of homes.

According to experts, an EF-0 tornado traveled through the Lincoln-Lemington and into Highland Park, a rare occurrence but not an impossible one.

“Any strength of a tornado is possible any time of year but it is less likely to happen in the late fall to the wintertime but we also say be prepared,” Milcarek said.

According to WPXI’s Chief Meteorologist Stephen Cropper, this is the 19th tornado to hit the Pittsburgh area this year; the National Weather Service said it’s the 30th for our larger region breaking a record for the most tornados in a single season.

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