Tornado, flood warnings issued across Southwestern Pa. as storms roll through
Warnings for severe thunderstorms and flash flooding and watches and warnings for tornadoes were coming rapidly from the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh on Saturday night as storms rolled through the region.
At least one tornado was confirmed by radar in Washington County, the weather service said. On social media, the service said there was a debris signature west of Green Hills.
A tornado warning was issued for Bentleyville, Ellsworth and Deemston in Washington County. A warning was also issued for Uniontown, Oliver and Hopwood.
The weather service later said it had video confirmation of a tornado touching down in Washington County from the Prosperity Fire Department. As of about 9:40 p.m., the service said it had no tornado warnings in effect.
A severe thunderstorm watch was scheduled to be in effect until 2 a.m. Sunday, stretching from eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia into southwest and southcentral Pennsylvania and the Maryland panhandle. Threats include tornadoes, hail up to ping pong size, and wind gusts to 70 mph.
A severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for parts of Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia until 2 AM EDT pic.twitter.com/paWTWa0TvU
— NWS Pittsburgh (@NWSPittsburgh) August 13, 2023
A flash flood warning for an area including Plum, New Kensington and Lower Burrell was set to be in effect until 11 p.m.
Severe thunderstorm warnings were issued for locations south and east of Pittsburgh, one including the Westmoreland County communities of Mount Pleasant, Scottdale and Youngwood; another for an area including California, Pa., Monessen and Uniontown; and a third covering Waynesburg, Masontown and Fairdale.
Hail described as the size of a tennis ball was reported in Claysville.
Tennis ball hail from the Claysville, PA storm earlier. Thank you Lance for the picture. pic.twitter.com/N7uAeyUglw
— NWS Pittsburgh (@NWSPittsburgh) August 13, 2023
Storms in West Virginia, including Morgantown, Cheat Lake and Brookhaven, would drop golf ball sized hail, the weather service said.
Tornado warnings were also issued for areas in Ohio covered by the Moon Township-based office.
The storms were prompting alerts for strong winds of 40 to 60 mph and penny-sized hail.
Brian C. Rittmeyer is a TribLive reporter covering news in New Kensington, Arnold and Plum. A Pittsburgh native and graduate of Penn State University's Schreyer Honors College, Brian has been with the Trib since December 2000. He can be reached at brittmeyer@triblive.com.
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