Latest Weird Tornado Location: Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

The wrecked interior of a Panera Bread restaurant in
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania after an apparent
tornado roared through last night. 

The number of tornadoes that have hit the United States so far in 2018 is definitely below average, but one area that has seen more than its share of twisters is the northeastern United States.

The latest apparent victim of a Northeastern tornado is Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. There was major damage to a commercial district in town, and at least three people were injured.

As of early this morning, the National Weather Service in Binghampton, New York has yet to confirm whether the Wilkes-Barre storm was a tornado. They'll make that determination later today.

But all the signs point to a tornado. Radar indicated strong rotation over Wilkes-Barre last night and debris lofted at least 15,000 feet into the air.

The degree of destruction -- buildings destroyed, cars tossed across parking lots, U-Haul vans thrown on top of each other - definitely suggest a pretty intense twister.

The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader said the likely tornado struck at around 10 p.m. Wednesday in a busy commercial district. Luckily, it wasn't during the day when even more people might have been around than they otherwise would have. A Panera Bread, a strip mall, a Nissan dealership, a Barnes & Noble bookstore, an Ashley Furniture dealership and a U-Haul store all suffered major damage.

Another possible tornado touched down around Franklindale Township, Pennsylvania, southwest of Binghamton, New York. Social media showed pictures of a large funnel cloud in the area, and buildings were damaged.

Radar imagery from last night shows strong rotation with an
apparent tornado in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.  

As I mentioned, this has been quite a year so far for tornadoes in the Northeast. On May 4, a tornado took a 36-mile long path through western and central New Hampshire, making it one of New England longest tracked tornadoes on record.

Then on May 15, at least four tornadoes hit Connecticut and a least two others struck eastern New York, causing widespread damage. The tornadoes killed two people and damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes, especially in and around Hamden, Connecticut.

Last night's severe weather weakened overnight and swept out to sea east of New England as a cold front marched through.

In an unrelated tornado development, hordes of storm chasers are headed for souther Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada today for a likely fairly extensive outbreak of tornadoes. We'll see. I'm sure there will be videos.