3 tornadoes confirmed in Pittsburgh area after Wednesday's storms
Three tornadoes touched down in the Pittsburgh area on Wednesday, the National Weather Service confirmed.
The NWS confirmed two EF-0 tornadoes touched down in Butler County. According to the NWS, both were from the same storm, but had discontinuous paths.
An NWS survey team also confirmed an EF-1 tornado near Gastonville in Washington County.
NWS surveys damage
The National Weather Service was out surveying storm damage in Butler County after Wednesday evening's storms.
A tornado ripped the roof off a salt barn.
"The roof being blown off of this building was really impressive," NWS Pittsburgh Meteorologist Fred McMullen said.
The National Weather Service spent Thursday morning surveying the scattered salt barn.
"We're out here really today to determine the – really the data from the tornado," McMullen said.
McMullen and his colleagues combed through the scene, documenting pictures.
"We're looking out here to see how long the track was, how wide it was, and then the max intensity winds that we saw from this storm last night," he said.
This is the seventh confirmed tornado in the National Weather Service's 35-county Pittsburgh region this year. That region includes parts of Eastern Ohio and West Virginia.
McMullen said the NWS' region, which includes the Pittsburgh area as well as parts of eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia, usually averages six tornadoes a year. So far this year, there's been nine.
"We are tracking above average," he said.
The National Weather Service was able to use video to confirm that a tornado tore the roof off the salt barn.
"We got video from security cameras – where we wouldn't have had this maybe five, 10 years ago," McMullen said. "It's really cool to leverage technology to really help us determine what it was and how things transpired last night."
