5 tornadoes formed on Friday, NWS says

Five tornadoes hit Western Pennsylvania and Ohio on Friday, meteorologists from the National Weather Service confirmed after sending teams out Saturday to investigate the damage.

The fastest-blowing tornado touched down in Pittsburgh’s Highland Park neighborhood, while four other tornadoes hit , Elrama, Harrison City, the Allegheny County Airport in West Mifflin and near Leesville Lake in Ohio.

The Highland Park tornado was the only one to reach EF1 in severity. It was active between 4:37 and 4:45 p.m., traveled for 2 miles and had winds that reached 105 miles per hour. It is the first tornado to appear within city limits since 1998, the NWS said.

The tornado downed trees around the Morningside, Highland Park and Aspinwall areas, with one tree falling on a vehicle in the Pittsburgh Zoo parking lot. No injuries were reported at the zoo to either humans or animals. Trees along Allegheny River Boulevard were knocked over and some power poles were spotted leaning.

Highland Park Tornado pic.twitter.com/ZySAcOGZ4v

— NWS Pittsburgh (@NWSPittsburgh) May 19, 2024

In Harrison City, an EF0 tornado was active from 3:50 p.m. to 4 p.m., and saw peak winds of 70 miles per hour as it skipped around the area.

The tornado traveled for 2.9 miles, and damaged flag poles and tree limbs in the Penn Township Municipal Complex. Some shingles and siding on homes along Seslar Drive were damaged and a tree was snapped at the Greensburg-Jeannette Regional Airport.

The tornado at Leesville Lake was measured at EF0 and reached speeds of 80 miles per hour. It tossed docks and pontoon boats around in the lake and destroyed some trees.

At the Allegheny County Airport, the tornado was too weak for meteorologists to determine its speed. No damage was observed, but video evidence showed the tornado moving across the industrial complex at Noble Drive.

In Elrama and Elizabeth, multiple homes saw damaged trees and shingles removed by the tornado, which reached peak wind speeds of 80 miles per hour and traveled 5.9 miles from 2:54 to 3:14 p.m.

A mobile home lost a porch roof and a swimming pool collapsed as the tornado tried to lift it, and porch railings and furniture were destroyed and tossed around. Homeowners had trouble closing their front doors.