NWS confirms tornado near Vanderbilt
A National Weather Service final report provided more details on the tornado that touched down outside of Vanderbilt during Monday’s thunderstorms.
Survey teams confirmed an EF-1 tornado with top speeds of up to 90 mph after on-site visits to numerous suspected sites in northern Fayette County on Tuesday, aided by aerial images submitted by the public.
The tornado formed around 5:14 p.m., traveling more than 1.2 miles around the Sandy Hollow area south of Vanderbilt, the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh said.
The tornado snapped hard and softwood trees, along with large branches, the NWS said. It partially blew in a garage door along Lower Sandy Hollow Road, but did no other structural damage.
Survey teams pieced together the tornado’s path. Tree damage was first spotted along Little Summit Road. The tornado then crossed Lower Sandy Hollow Road through a field and clipped the tops of trees in a wooded area. It finally lifted shortly after it crossed Upper Sandy Hollow Road.
The storm grew out of a mesovortex that formed within a convective storm moving from Washington County to Fayette County around 4:45 p.m., the NWS said. The rotation gradually tightened, producing the tornado half an hour later.
Monday’s tornado comes after six tornadoes were confirmed in Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties on June 6 — including one that also crossed Lower Sandy Hollow Road. The new tornado, slightly to the east, had overlapping damage with the June 6 tornado.
NWS teams also confirmed an EF-0 tornado from Monday’s storms in Fairmont, W.Va., downing several trees, one of which fell on a car.