TORNADO: NWS ‘fairly confident’ twister struck Mahanoy City
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - The face of the Dollar General sign is seen in a backyard in Mahanoy City on May 28, 2024.
MAHANOY CITY – As daylight showed twisted, snapped, and uprooted trees from one end of town to the other, meteorologists from State College said they were “fairly confident” the damage was tornadic.
Two meteorologists from the National Weather Service at State College joined local and county emergency management officials for a storm survey. The Sentinel was the only Schuylkill County-based news outlet along for the storm survey.
John Bowen, one of the meteorologists, said the survey team was in town to both confirm a tornado touched down and to assess damage.
“Basically, performing forensic meteorology with the goal of putting all the pieces together to complete the story of what the storm did last night,” Bowen said. “Given a lot of the video we’ve seen and the way the damage has been blown around, we’re fairly confident that this was tornadic damage.”
He said the survey team will determine the EF-scale rating of the tornado and how strong they believed the winds are.
Bowen added that the common belief in northern Schuylkill County, that communities like Shenandoah and Mahanoy City are shielded from tornadoes by mountains, is not true.
“Topography can modify weather to a degree, but if a tornado is on the ground and causing damage, it really doesn’t care,” Bowen said. “It’ll cross mountains.”
Storm Survey Photos
He also said that the crew will determine where the tornado started and ended, which is currently believed to be near Foundry Row as a start and Glendon Road as an end.
Mahanoy Area Schools were closed Tuesday as wood impaled the roof of the building and uprooted trees on the former Assumption BVM church grounds.
Mahanoy City Fire Chief Dan Markiewicz showed the survey crew the face of the Dollar General sign, which landed in his backyard about a block away.
Miraculously, no injuries were reported.
Tornadoes are uncommon in the northern Schuylkill area, and if outright confirmed, Monday’s would be the first in the Mahanoy Valley since at least 1950.
A storm survey report will be issued later Tuesday.
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