FRANKLIN TWP. — When the rain came into her barn, and the wind blew upward as it sheared insulation from the interior walls, Beth McKee knew it was not a normal rainstorm.
Her horses knew it, too.
“They were nervous because everything was crazy,” said McKee, owner of Willow Creek Stables on North Camp Run Road in Franklin Township.
The stables were on the western end of the path of a low-grade tornado that made a near-touchdown in Beaver and Butler counties about 4 p.m. Monday night. The National Weather Service Pittsburgh office said the twister rated a zero on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, which measures tornadoes with a 0-to-5 rating with 5 being the most severe.
A zero-rated tornado has sustained force of 65 to 85 mph, compared with a rating of 5, which has wind force in excess of 200 mph. The tornado that blew through northeastern Beaver County had an estimated wind force of 70 mph.
But that was enough to do some damage. McKee said the tornado damaged some fencing and a trailer that was hit with flying debris. It also sheared several trees and uprooted one. The 14 horses at the stable were scared, but none of them were injured.
The storm hit just as McKee was returning from a cowboy-style riding and shooting competition in North Carolina. She was pulling into the stables when her global positioning system warned her of an impending storm.
“I backed up my trailer and unloaded my horses, and no sooner than I got her unloaded, the rain started coming down,” McKee said.
The tornado moved east, according to the National Weather Service, where it continued to damage and uproot trees about three miles away at the Strawberry Ridge Golf Course in Lancaster Township, Butler County. Staff at the course said Wednesday that the tornado damage was limited to an area near Hole No. 2.
The National Weather Service, citing eyewitness accounts at the golf course, said debris was seen moving in a cyclonic fashion, consistent with tornado movement.
At its widest point, the tornado left a swath about 75 yards wide, and the path was not continuous, indicating that it did not stay on or near the ground the entire time. The National Weather Service reported that no one was injured and no buildings were damaged, which was consistent with a zero-force tornado.
by Eric Poole
July 12, 2017
