A tornado touched down in Downingtown during Thursday’s severe storms
The tornado was one of two that touched down in the greater Philadelphia region Thursday night as thunderstorms blanketed the area.
A tornado touched down in Downingtown during a barrage of severe storms Thursday evening, the National Weather Service confirmed via X.
The tornado landed in the Chester County borough at 5:25 p.m. Thursday, according to a log kept by the weather service, as major thunderstorms passed through the area. The twister was considered an EF-0 on the Enhanced Fujita rating scale. An EF-O tornado is the least destructive, with estimated wind speeds ranging from 65 to 85 mph.
Meteorologists are expected to release more information about the tornado’s path and intensity, as well as any associated damage, the NWS wrote on X.
Downingtown’s tornado was the first of two to land in the region Thursday. A slightly more intense EF-1 tornado touched down in Dover, Del., at 6:15 p.m., per the weather service’s log. A twister with an EF-1 rating has winds with an estimated speed of 86 to 110 mph and can cause moderate damage.
The weather service has yet to release additional information about that tornado as well.
Thursday’s storms were the latest in a summer marked by intense wind and rain. The storms arrived in the Philly region just after 5 p.m. and set off a barrage of flash-flood warnings for Philadelphia, the Main Line, and sections of Delaware and New Jersey. Portions of Delaware and Chester Counties were also under tornado warnings.
The downpours led to flash floods that made many streets impassable in the Montgomery County townships of West Norriton and Lower Providence, according to the weather service. And in Chester County, fallen trees cut off sections of heavily trafficked Route 322 in Honey Brook.
The forecast for the rest of the weekend was looking similarly wet.
“Multiple rounds of scattered showers and thunderstorms expected through tomorrow afternoon,” the National Weather Service at Mount Holly wrote Saturday on X. Forecasters “cannot rule out a few strong to severe thunderstorms” for Sunday.
