Tornado Touched Down In Pittsburgh Area, Weather Service Confirms

PITTSBURGH, PA — The National Weather Service has confirmed that a tornado touched down Friday in East Finley, Washington County.

The event happened shortly before 3 p.m. between Birch Road and Elwood Day Road. The tornado registered an EF0 rating with peak winds of 65 mph. It was 75 yards wide and traveled 0.47 miles.

No deaths or injuries were reported. Damage was confined to trees. The tornado arrived following warnings of severe weather.

According to the National Weather Service, more than 70 percent of tornadoes in western Pennsylvania are considered EF0 to EF1.

Thirteen Pennsylvania counties were recently ranked among those that are most at risk for tornado damage across the nation. Home Gnome, a home services website, analyzed nearly 950 counties that had moderate to very high tornado risk per the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Home Gnome considered factors including tornado frequency, anticipated annual losses, home age and whether building codes accounted for tornado resilience when determining the rankings.

Among those in Pennsylvania that are among the top 950 counties in the nation most at risk are:

• Philadelphia (90)
• Montgomery (242)
• Delaware (310)
• Allegheny (370)
• Bucks (373)
• Chester (410)
• Berks (434)
• Lehigh (551)
• Northampton (728)
• Dauphin (730)
• Lancaster (743)
• Luzerne (766)
• Lebanon (930)

In addition to the recent tornado in East Finley, at least four other tornadoes were recently confirmed in Pennsylvania, including one in Schuylkill County that damaged homes and windows at the local elementary school.

Here's the weather forecast for the Pittsburgh area for the rest of the week:

Tonight
A chance of showers before 11pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 11pm and 2am, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56. East wind 6 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Wednesday
Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 8am, then showers between 8am and 11am, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 11am. High near 68. Southeast wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.

Wednesday Night
Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 2am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2am. Low around 53. Southwest wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Thursday
Showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. High near 60. West wind 9 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Thursday Night
A chance of showers before 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 47. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Friday
Showers likely, mainly after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 59. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Friday Night
Showers likely, mainly before 8pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 44. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Saturday
A chance of showers after 8am. Partly sunny, with a high near 63. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

RELATED: 'Mass Casualty Incident' In PA After Tornado Warnings (July 2021)