HELLAM TWP., Pa. - Meteorologists from the National Weather Service confirmed Sunday that a tornado touched down in eastern York County Saturday afternoon.
Two storms passed through the area, but it was the second storm that generated the EF-1 tornado with winds of around 90 miles an hour. It passed through the area around 3:15 p.m. Saturday.
"In some cases, you can see trees that are actually criss-crossing," Barbara Watson, a meteorologist withe the State College office of the National Weather Service, said, referencing the property of State Rep. Keith Gillespie, whose property was damaged by the storm. "Here, there's trees and branches going in different directions, and that's much more indicative of a tornado."
There were no reports of injuries stemming from the tornado, but there were widespread reports of property damage.
"I have over 60 property or structure damage [reports] just in the Hellam Township and the Wrightsville area," Phil Smith, with the Eastern York County Emergency Management Agency and a Hellam Township supervisor, said. "We had about 10 [or] 20 roads that had trees down and power lines down."
Another indicator of a tornado was the narrow debris field observed by the NWS and emergency management officials. The path of destruction was about four miles long, but only around 100 yards wide, Watson said.
"Everybody says it's probably one of the worst storms that they've experienced," Smith said. "Talking to one of the directors at the York County EMA, he said it's the first time he ever went to the basement. It was a very scary situation yesterday."