NWS confirms tornadoes in Washington and Fayette counties

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A large building was demolished by an EF2 tornado that ripped through Union Township Saturday night.

Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

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Trees were downed along Tree Farm Road in Fayette County after an EF0 briefly touched down in central Fayette County Saturday.

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The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh has confirmed the tornado that struck Finleyville, Union Township, on Saturday night was rated an EF2.

The NWS also determined that a brief EF0 tornado touched down near New Salem in Fayette County, and an EF1 tornado crossed from Fayette County into Preston County, W.Va., near Fike Run, during a wave of severe storms Saturday night.

The EF scale is used to assign a tornado a rating based on wind speed.

According to the NWS, a survey site team estimates winds of up to 118 miles an hour for the EF2 tornado that touched down between 6:06 p.m. and 6:19 p.m in Union Township.

The NWS said the tornado, which was 200 yards wide, carved an approximate 5.9-mile path through Finleyville, damaging a dozen homes and Crossroads Ministries church, along with several vehicles, and uprooting trees and downing power lines.

Minor injuries were reported, according to the NWS, mostly from broken glass.

In southeast Fayette County and northeast Preston county near Fike Run, the EF1 tornado traveled about 1.1 miles, with wind speeds of 90 miles per hour. It is the second tornado in three days for Preston County, the NWS said. It touched down around 7:48 p.m. and lasted about six minutes.

Two barn doors were blown off and landed across Flat Rock Road. The twister continued southeast, causing more downed trees and snapping large branches off trees along the road.

The worst damage occurred just across the state line into West Virginia, where more than 200 trees were downed and a roof was blown off a garage and a tree fell on a car, crushing the roof.

Fayette County’s most recent tornado occurred in 2023, when an EF2 touched down on Aug. 25 in Saltlick Township.

Saturday’s brief EF0 tornado near New Salem touched down at 7:06 p.m. with maximum winds reaching 65 miles per hour, according to the NWS. There were no injuries reported and little damage.

Sue Griffith, public information officer at Fayette County 911, said the 911 center received calls of trees and power lines down in the area of Tree Farm Road.

“It never dropped low enough to cause any major damage. It was very brief,” said Griffith.

Despite Saturday’s tornado being categorized as an EFO, which has wind speeds of 45 to 65 mph, the NWS claims it is still strong enough to cause significant damage. The tornado caused limited damage and no injuries were reported.

Some found the golf-sized hail to be the biggest inconvenience, shredding flowers and causing slick roads much like freezing rain for drivers in the area.

Between 1950 and 2020, 11 tornadoes touched down in Fayette County, including one in Uniontown in 2018 that caused widespread damage in the city and neighboring townships, according to Lee Hendricks, a meteorologist with the NWS.

Washington County has been impacted by EF2 tornadoes in 2022 and 2021, the NWS said.

Tornado activity has been particularly busy this year.

Fourteen tornadoes have been preliminarily confirmed so far this year in the NWS 36-county warning area, the most since 2021.

Nine already have occurred in May, the most since 1985. Three of those have been rated EF2, tying the total from the entire 2021 season.

“The Ohio Valley has been in an active period from February to now. Through May, we’ve had a tornado recorded every month, which is very unusual. It is an active season and we’re not even at the peak of it. Usually, June is a more active season,” said NWS Pittsburgh meteorologist Shannon Hefferan.

Staff writer Amy Fauth contributed to this report.