Cristobal Bubbles, PA/NJ Slammed, Norway Slides

Badly damaged house in New Jersey following yesterday's derecho.
Photo by Jessica Beym, NJ Advance

While tropical weather geeks keep their eye on Tropical Storm - now Tropical Depression - Cristobal, there's been plenty of weather ation in the United States and elsewhere.

Dramatic videos are the botoom of this post. One of the shows an incredible landslide in Norway I'll get to in a minute,  

DERECHO AND SUPERCELLS

In Pennsylvania and New Jersey, a derecho swept southeastward from near Lake Erie across the Keystone State and finally off the Jersey shore during the late morning and early afternoon Wednesday.  This was followed in the late afternoon and evening by supercell thunderstorms that prompted a tornado warning in Philadelphia.

Winds gusted to 65 mph or so both during the early afternoon derecho and the evening tornado warned storm.  I don't think Philadelphia had ever previously had two 60+ mph storms on the same day.

A derecho, by the way, is a long lasting, fast moving line of severe thunderstorms that almost always cause severe wind damage. That was the case yesterday. The official definition of a derecho is a line of storms that survives over a distance of at least 240 miles and produces peak winds of at least 58 mph over most of its path.

This derecho produced winds of up to 89 mph in New Jersey, with gusts in the 65 to 80 mph range thorugh a long swath of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The derecho killed at least three people, including one at a golf clubhouse that was hit by an immense falling tree.  Many homes were damaged, most by falling trees. A large apartment complex lost its roof.

A derecho usually stablizes the air immediately behind it, so it was remarkable that the atmosphere recovered enough to produce those supercells over Pennsylvania and New Jersey in the evening.  Those storms just added to the damage and the power outages.

Tornado-warned storm over Philadelphia last evening. Photo bu
Ashley Corin 

And - just what they need - more severe thunderstorms are possible today in parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland.

CRISTOBOL

Cristobol has been downgraded for now to a tropical depression as it meanders inland over souther Mexico.  It's still expected to take a northward turn, emerge over warm Gulf of Mexico waters, and strengthen somewhat as it moves north toward Louisiana by early Monday.

Intensity forecasts are really, really uncertain, but at least for now, it's not expected to reach hurricane status before landfall.

LANDSLIDE

The following isn't directly related to weather, but wet weather could have contributed to it.  A huge landslide 2,000 feet wide and 500 feet wide swept at least eight houses out to sea along the northern Norway coast.

Miraculously, nobody was injured, as most of the houses were vacation places and people had left after the weekend.  A dog was rescued in the afternmath of the landslide.  Scroll down a ways for the incredible video.

Here are some videos, first with scenes from the Pennsylvania storms:



Another view of the storm's intensity



Let's go overseas to Chcchnya, which had its own battle with severe weather:



Here's the Norway landslide. I was oddly rooting for the big white house to survive, but I knew that was impossible

Interesting Theory: Man Thinks Roundabouts Create Tornadoes

A Pennsylvania man thinks that roundabouts like this one
cause tornadoes. I'm not sure how, but this guy is confident.

For some reason, there has arguably been more tornadoes than usual this year and last year in Pennsylvania.

Nobody is sure why.  It's probably just bad luck. But a Pennsylvania man has a novel theory as to why his state has had more than its share of twisters.

Traffic roundabouts. That's right. Traffic circles.  This guy is convinced that the growing popularity of traffic circles and roundabouts is causing those Pennsylvania twisters. 

By the way, the man has an alternative pronunciation of the word "tornado." He pronounces it "tornader."

Here's what he said when he called into television station WNEP's "Talkback 16" segment:

"We didn't have tornaders here until we started putting in traffic circles. Cause, on account of the - you want to know why? When people go round and round in circles, it causes disturbances in the atmosphere, and causes tornaders."

That is, um, interesting explanation for Pennsylvania's bad weather. And laughable. Which means of course, this unidentified dude has gotten a lot of reaction on Twitter.

One person wrote: "Not to mention that carousel rides ramp up in the spring. A mere coincidence?"

Another Twitter wag said Donald Trump should appoint this tornader guy as EPA chief.

Yet another person wrote: "Jesus, tornado alley must be in England then. There is a roundabout everywhere there."

For the record, Great Britain, on average gets about 30 tornadoes per year. The United States, though admittably much larger, gets more than 1,000 twisters annually.

Where I live in Vermont, they've installed several roundabouts on the states roads in the past few years. The Green Mountain State averages one tornado per year, but we haven't had one in five years. I wonder what "tornader" guy thinks of that?

More Tornadoes In New NE "Tornado Alley" And Amplified Pattern Spells Trouble

A likely tornado in the dark clouds yesterday in western Pennsylvania
Photo came from Erie News via Twitter.

In this year in which the nation as a whole has had relatively few tornadoes, the new tornado alley - the Northeast - delivered again with some new twisters on Tuesday.

TUESDAY NORTHEAST TORNADOES

Tornadoes touched down in Pennsylvania and possibly southern New York and southwestern Connecticut yesterday, continuing a severe weather trend that's been going on since at least May in the Northeast.

The worst tornado was in western Pennsylvania, where a nursing home was struck. There were no injuries directly caused by the tornado, but two residents were taken to a local hospital for other medical issues and the other 160 residents were evacuated to a nearby, undamaged middle school.

In Connecticut, a possible tornadoes dropped large trees across a section of the Merritt Parkway. As you can imagine on that road, it caused some major traffic tieups.

So far there are three reports of tornadoes in Pennsylvania, according to NOAA's Storm Prediction Center, but I expect there will be more confirmed reports of twisters in the three states I mentioned as meteorologists conduct damage assessments.

There were certainly plenty of tornado warnings and videos of possible tornadoes and/or tornado damage popping up on social media from Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut, so I'm sure those investigating meteorologists will have their work cut out for them today.

Through October 1, before Tuesday's tornado outbreak, the Storm Prediction Center had counted 877 tornadoes across the United States so far this year. Not counting whatever happened on Tuesday,

In the Northeast, there have been 33 tornadoes this year, which is a small percentage of the U.S. total but still impressive for this part of the country. Through Monday, again not counting Tuesday's weather, Pennsylvania has had 17 tornadoes, New York had seven, Connecticut, 6, then three each in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

There have been no tornadoes here in Vermont, just for the record. And just for the record, you would have needed to be in warm, humid air to get the severe weather yesterday. A west-to-east weather front was to the north of the tornado zone but south of Vermont. That confined the muggy air well to the south of us.

That's why we here in Vermont just got rain on Tuesday, with nothing extreme or dangerous.

"AMPLIFIED PATTERN" SPELLS TROUBLE

Anytime you hear meteorologist describe and "amplified weather pattern," take that to mean someone is going to get in trouble with rough weather.  

This is the kind of jet stream pattern we're entering the
next few days. A dip in the west, a northward bulge in
the east and storminess in the middle. This map is
NOT a current forecast. It's just meant as a
schematic to illustrate the situation

Enter the latest amplified pattern.

This "amplified" stuff means the jet stream is much more wiggly than usual. More specifically, an amplified pattern features unusually deep southward dips in the jet stream, paired with unusually far north bulges nearby.  

In this case, we're setting up for a deep dip in the jet stream, or trough, in the western United States and a deep northward bulge, otherwise known as a ridge in the East.

When you get that type of set up, there's usually a lot of stormy weather in the area between the trough and the ridge. (You might also see the potential for record chill in the trough and record heat in the ridge, and that could happen this time, too.)

But the main trouble is in the middle of the nation. It starts today. There is a risk of tornadoes in Wisconsin, and the chance of a strong one. So people need to keep their heads up there.

Worse, this ridge in the east, will get air flowing off the Gulf of Mexico and up through the middle ofthe nation.  There's a real risk of heavy rain and flooding from Texas to the western Great Lakes next week. Seven day forecasts call for three to eight inches of rain in this region, with higher amounts possible.

Much of this area has been drenched by heavy rain much of the summer and early autumn, to that's why flooding will be a real risk. There will be chances of severe weather and more tornadoes next week as well.

This  pattern also means there's the risk of heavy snow in the northern Rockies, possibly extending east into the western Dakotas.

Here in Vermont, we will be under that eastern ridge, so the weather here in our immediate future looks benign. Rainfall will be light over the next week, and temperatures will start to trend above normal. The only cool day in our forecast is Friday, when highs will be in the 50s. That's not unusual for early October.

By  next week, we Vermonters could be looking at Indian Summer weather with temperatures in the 70s. Stay tuned on that one.

You'd Think It Would Finally Rain In Vermont With This Humidity, But Everyone Else Getting It Instead

Showers are few and far between today in Vermont, but the showers
that do form are giving the sky the appearance of something you'd see
over a Caribbean island. Which isn't surprising, since this really
is pure tropical air. 

It's another oppressively warm, incredibly humid day here in Vermont.

Once again, I cut short outdoor work because the sun, combined with the humidity was too much for me.

I originally thought - as did many forecasters - that today would be a cloudier, more showery day than recent ones.

Especially in northern Vermont, where we still really need the rain. And I would have been willing to work outside under clouds with this humidity, without the glaring heat of the sun.

And I would have been willing to work outside in these temperatures and the sun, if the humidity were lower. Rain showers would have further cooled me off out there.

It was not to be. It seems every time northern Vermont seems finally ready to get some decent rains, something interferes.

This time, it's an upper level low stuck to our southwest. In the upper levels of the atmosphere, drier air wrapped around this low, and went south to north in a corridor that took it right across Vermont.

Sure, with this awful humidity near the surface, there's bound to be some local showers and storms. One tiny cell formed in Milton early this afternoon and traveled north right along Interstate 89 all the way to Highgate.

Meanwhile, flash flooding is so bad in Pennsylvania today that a
building housing the New Albany library sadly washed away.
Thankfully, two people in an apartment on the second floor
of the building were rescued before the structure
entirely broke apart. 

When I got home to St. Albans, Vermont early this afternoon,  things outside were wet, so at least I got a little needed rain out of the deal, while lots of other people didn't.

Most showers and storms that form the rest of this afternoon over and near Vermont will get going over the mountains and pretty much stay there. We lack any real wind in the atmosphere, so there's nothing to push them along.

Because showers and storms will be such slow movers, isolated spots in the state could get torrential downpours and gullywashers.

If any particular storm gets especially tall, there's barely enough wind in the upper atmosphere to push them into valleys. Most valley locations won't get rain the rest of the this afternoon and evening, but there's hope a few will.

The tropical air looks really, well, tropical. I swear the sky over the Green Mountain State today looks more like we're on a Caribbean island and not in northern New England.

The next chance of widespread, meaningful rain in northern Vermont will come along Friday and Saturday, but I'm guessing, just as we repeatedly experienced all summer, some complication will come along to prevent that anticipated precipitation.

Meanwhile, so many people under and close to that upper low I talked about are getting, way, way too much rain. Flash flooding has been an enormous problem since Saturday in these areas, especially in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and that state of affairs continues this afternoon.

The flash flooding continues today, especially along the Pennsylvania/New York border near Elmira and Binghamton. It's gotten so bad a building housing a library in New Albany, Pennsylvania literally washed away in the flood.

It continues: Some people are getting way too much rain, and not that far way, other people are not getting enough. Too bad we don't have the power to redistribute it.

Northeast Floods Peak Today, But Will Northern Vermont Miss Out On Rain AGAIN?!?

Parts of Pennsylvania are under a rare high risk area (in purple) for dangerous
flash floods today. Believe it or not, parched Vermont is under
the slight risk zone for flash floods. Torrential local downpours
could cause small areas of flash flooding, despite the dry conditions. 

So far, just some piddling little light showers have come through Vermont's Champlain Valley as of 3 p.m. Wednesday as we remain parched.

Meanwhile, parts of the Northeast are under a rather rare high risk zone for life-threatening flash floods today. 

I'm so wishing for something much milder than flash floods and much more intense than sprinkles, but for me, it remains to be seen whether that will happen.

The real news, of course, is today's flash flood threat, centered in central Pennsylvania and south central New York, down by Binghamton.

In these regions, it has rained and rained and rained this week and soils are saturated. There has already been some pretty serious flooding in this region. As I write this, thunderstorms are increasing again in super soupy air over Pennsylvania, so intense downpours are developing again.

The worst of the rain in Pennsylvania looks like it is, or soon will, fall in an area that has had a foot of rain in the past week.

This will be bad, and I'm sure we'll hear of more flash flooding damage in Pennsylvania and New York.

Already, there's big trouble. The famed Hersheypark in Pennsylvania  is closed today for the second time this week due to flooding. There's not much in the way of flooding inside the park, but the roads leading to it are under water.

The nearby Knoebels Amusement Resort is under water.

The weather pattern that has stalled for the past few days, keeping most of the rain to Vermont's south and west, is on the move again. This is why forecasters are insisting we'll finally get our share of rain later today and tonight.

The chances are still there. Showers and thunderstorms are increasing to our southwest, so we might get into the action. And, what is essentially a very weak cold front is in western New York, and is slowly moving east.

This, you would think, would be the focus of a pretty good band of rain coming through Vermont just ahead of this so-called cold front. Chances of that rain happening this evening are pretty damn good. Forecaster are insisting we will have somewhere around an inch of rain by Thursday noon. I have no reason to doubt them.

In fact, Vermont is under a slight risk zone for flash flooding today and tonight. That might seem strange, given how parched it is out there. But if any particular town or area gets hit by repeated downpours over the course of a few hours, small creeks could become scary, raging torrents. There was already a flood advisory for awhile in far southern Vermont this morning when a heavy batch of rain went through there.

But still. We've been burned before. Several times this summer, the setup seemed to indicate we Green Mountain Boys and Girls would get a good soaking, and instead, we get just some crappy light showers.

It's as if we've turned into this weird humid desert. The air is so sopping wet - you'd think we'd have a downpour any minute, but then nothing happens.

No doubt it has been a hot month here in Vermont, which has exacerbated the dry condition we're experiencing. Depending upon how the last few days of the month go, we could set a record in Burlington, Vermont for the hottest month on record, which would surely be a big milestone.

Burlington, Vermont has recorded 10 days so far this month with temperatures of 90 degrees or above. We're tied with 1999 for the second most number of 90s in the month of July. The most 90s in July came in the notoriously hot summer of 1949, when there 11 such days.

Of course, we still have a few days to go in July in which the temperature could get to 90 degrees again. No such days are in the immediate future.

But......

After a break this weekend the weather pattern looks like it's going to turn once again to the one we've had this week. That means the Bermuda High will once again strengthen, pushing all the way up towards eastern New England and southeastern Canada.

Meanwhile, another dip in the jet stream will probably form to our west.

This would put us in the hot, tropical air again. I'm guessing the flood plagued Northeast (except Vermont!) would be in for more dangerous flooding, since the ground is so wet and the air will be so humid next week.

The vague bright side, of course, is despite the terrible heat and humidity we're all sick of here in Vermont, there will at least be a chance of more showers and thunderstorms next week. Even if we do get that inch of rain tonight, we'll still need more precipitation.

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.

Temporary Spring Is Here (*Results May Vary)

Melting snow made for a watery walk down a Winooski,
Vermont sidewalk Thursday as springlike weather arrived.

UPDATE: That storm in Uniontown, Pennsylvania last night was confirmed as an EF-1 tornado.

Also, the cold front has arrived in northern Vermont and as of 1:30 p.m. it was snowing harder in some areas than I originally anticipated.

It will taper off later this afternoon, but be prepared for some icy roads for the next few hours as temperatures drop below freezing.


PREVIOUS DISCUSSION
Boy, yesterday felt like early April in Vermont with temperatures in the 40s an 50s.

Burlington reached 53 degrees, just one degree below the record high for the date. Bennington, Vermont was a balmy 58 degrees and Plattsburgh, New York, a toasty 56 degrees.

Also fitting the spring season, there was a possible tornado last night in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. The National Weather Service will investigate that one.

It's rare for tornadoes to strike as far north as Pennsylvania in February. Plus, early reports suggest this likely tornado was quite destructive, damaging or even destroying several homes. So far, only minor injuries have been reported.

There will be an interruption of sorts to this early spring weather, but it's coming back tomorrow. A cold front is sagging through Vermont today from the north, bringing a much chillier, but not ridiculous change toward winter, but it will be very temporary.

Also, lots of moisture riding along this slow front is largely missing Vermont, so there's no flooding problems like in places such as western Pennsylvania and parts of Ohio last night. 

Another storm will zip along this front Saturday night. By then, the front will be south of New England. This means southern New England, the New York City metro area, Long Island and northern New Jersey is in for a quick four to eight inches of wet snow Saturday night. Winter storm watches are in effect for those areas.

The snow will extend into Vermont, but it won't be bad. At this point, it looks like two or three inches in far southern parts of the state, tapering down to a dusting or so in the north.

By Sunday afternoon, this early taste of spring will begin to return once again. The overnight snows in the south will begin thawing in the afternoon, and even far northern Vermont should get at least into the mid and upper 30s.

Then the warmth floods in, with temperatures well into the 40s Monday. It's looking like we might be in record high territory here in Vermont with possible highs in the 50s to low 60s Tuesday. Wednesday looks nearly as warm at this point.

Some rain will accompany this warmth. We'll have to watch the lingering ice jams from January, as the warmth and rain will cause some rises on river levels, and that will move the ice around. It's hard to say at this point how much rain we'll get.

If the rain is particularly heavy, it could cause real problems. Early indications are rainfall will be under an inch, which isn't bad. Meteorologists will be watching this.

By the way, the pattern we're getting into, with warm, wet air in the east and wintry weather in the northwestern part of the country could favor a severe weather outbreak in the central and southern parts of the United States.

It's too soon to speculate on precisely where and if this might happen, so stay tuned. However, heavy rain in the Tennessee and lower Mississippi Valley over the next 10 days or so already has weather watchers there definitely worried about flooding.

Back here in Vermont, we of course know that despite the likely February warmth coming up, winter is not over. There will surely be bouts of wintry cold and snow in March.

This is just a tease. Enjoy it, unless you're a snow lover.

WIld Video Ice Jam Breaks, Forces River To Surge Backwards

The ice jam shown in the video at the bottom of this post
flooded a tavern in Avoca, Pennsylvania. Photo by Aimee
Pinger, Times Leader, Wilkes Barre, PA.

For the past couple of weeks, the Northeast has been plagued by numerous ice jams, which  have caused serious flooding problems in several states, including Vermont.  

As the often do, some of the ice jams have shifted, or broken up, then re-formed downstream.

One such incident unfolded in Avoca, Pennsylvania, yielding a wild video taken by the Avoca Fire Department.

The video is at the bottom of this post.

It shows water and ice rushing down a river, contained on both sides by concrete or some other barriers. The ice apparently jammed up again downstream, causing the water to violent back up. The river, with its ice chunks, suddenly flows backwards in a wave, which is impressive to see.

This new wave of flooding damaged six homes and a tavern in the area. This river caused flooding during the very serious Northeast midwinter heavy rains, thaw and ice jams in 1996. A $5.7 million flood control project was built along this river as a result of that 1996 disaster, but this new inundation happened anyway, reports the Times Leader of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania.

This is one of many dramatic videos ice jams in the Northeast recently. Perhaps the most famous was shared by the National Weather Service in South Burlington, Vermont, and showed a time lapse of an ice jam rapidly forming along the Ausable River in northern New York.

Here's the wild video out out of Avoca, Pennsylvania.

Into The Deep Freeze, For A Very Long Time

Increasing winds begin to blow powdery snow off of
pine trees Christmas afternoon after a morning storm left
six inches of new snow in West Rutland, Vermont 

We had a very nice Christmas morning snowfall here in Vermont, and a brief, but violent stormy burst around Boston with an hour long bout of gale force winds, super heavy snow, thunder and lightning.

All that Christmas fun is gone now, but we're in to the very, very deep freeze and it's going to last awhile from the Plains to the Northeast. And the Great Lakes effect snows are epic. More on that in a minute.

Here in Vermont, the temperature is going down, down, down. The cold wave will begin in earnest tonight, and last until, I'd say around January 5 or so. That's a long time.

The cold through January 5 will wax and wane over time, but it will be much colder than normal throughout. The first especially rough patch begins tomorrow and goes into Saturday. We're talking highs in the single numbers at best and lows in the teens below zero through the period.

The cold might relax just a tad over the weekend, then get super, super nasty again after that.

At this point, it doesn't look like we will be getting much snow through the period. Just a snow shower or interval of snow from time to time as reinforcing shots of Arctic air arrive from time to time.

An aptly-named business near Erie, Pennsylvania after lake
effect snows dumped an incredible 53 inches of snow on the
city over two days. 

The European weather computer models are still suggesting a nor'easter this weekend, but at this point, it looks like that storm will probably be too far south and east to give Vermont much of anything. It still bears watching, though, as it's possible it could still come close enough.

The most likely people to be affected by this potential storm are in far eastern New England.

After a warm early autumn, the Great Lakes are relatively warm and the contrast between that water and the frigid Arctic air is creating some epic lake effect snows.

Erie, Pennsylvania is really in the news today because of their epic lake effect storm. They had a least 53 inches of snow since yesterday. That sets a new record for the most intense snowstorm in Pennsylvania history. The previous record for that big a storm in Erie was in the 1890s, but it took 13 days, not two, to get up to 53 inches.

Erie has had 92 inches of snow so far in December (!!!!) Their annual average snowfall is 99 inches, so definitely, yikes!  They had as much snow in 36 hours as they normally do during the entire months of December and January.

Further north, in the famous snow belts in the Tug Hill Plateau near Watertown, New York, a lake effect storm total of up to six feet of new powder or more is expected by Wednesday night.

See? It could be worse here in Vermont. How would you like to shovel six feet of snow while it's 20 below?

We'll survive this.

Strange Tornadoes: Way North This Past Weekend And More Due

Metal and debris is wrapped around trees near a
tornado-damaged church in Conway, Massachusetts
Sunday. Photo by David Molnar/The Republican

Amid the incredible record heat on Saturday where some rare tornadoes that struck parts of the Northeast.

By the way, more severe weather and possible tornadoes are coming this week from Arkansas to the Middle Atlantic coast.

Also, another squirt of strange late winter heat. More on that in a minute.

I've already remarked at how wild it was to have tornadoes this far north in February. One in Massachusetts was truly remarkable.

A confirmed tornado touched down in Goshen and Conway, in western Massachusetts at around 7:15 p.m. Saturday.  This is only about 15 miles south of the Vermont border.

The National Weather Service in Taunton, Mass. gave the tornado a high-end EF-1 rating, with winds up to 110 mph. This is almost an EF-2 in the srength scale that ranges from zero to five.

This Massachusetts tornado was no brief spin up that we most often see in New England, the kind that just takes down a few trees and rips some siding off a barn.

This one severely damaged several houses on a path that extended for five miles and grew to a width of 200 years. One injury was reported. Hundreds of trees came down. Residents of Conway reported hearing the tell-tale freight train-like roar of a tornado as it approached, and thus had the sense to run to their basements

NWS meteorologists from Taunton said it was extremely fortunate that nobody was killed.

A tornado on the ground in York County,
Pennsylvania Saturday. 

This is an impressive tornado for New England for any time of year. (Most New England tornadoes strike between Memorial and Labor days.)

This was the first recorded February tornado in New England, and that it was so strong is quite something.

Elsewhere,  the confirmed tornado in Pennsylvania came on the exact one-year anniversary of another tornado in the same Pennsylvania county. Plus, as we know, tornadoes in Pennsylvania during February are quite rare.

That 2016 storm spawned widespread tornadoes and severe thunderstorms from the Carolinas to New England.

In Maryland, an EF-1 tornado extended along an 8.4 mile long path through LaPlata and Waldorf. This is only the seventh tornado reported in either January or February in Maryland since 1950, says the Natonal Weather Service in Baltimore/Washington.

More tornado trouble - or at least severe thunderstorm trouble - appears to be on the horizon.

NOAA's Storm Prediction Center says a severe weather outbreak will begin Tuesday, stretching from northeastern Texas into parts of the Ohio Valley.

The area of greatest concern at the moment is in Arkansas and southern Missouri. Details of how the storms will play out, and how many tornadoes form, and how strong they might be, are yet to be worked out.  

A menacing shelf cloud with a severe thunderstorm in
Pennsylvania Saturday. Photo by Marta Poulen.

The severe thunderstorms will move east for Wednesday, affecting a broad area from Louisiana to southern Pennsylvania, and down the coast to about South Carolina.

Strong straight line winds and hail are the biggest threats Wednesday, though there's a good chance there could be a few tornadoes in this broad zone.

This storm will generate another blast of very warm air for late winter in the eastern United States, but it won't be quite as strong and won't last as long as the heat wave last week.

Highs Wednesday will reach the upper 70s in the Washington DC area, around 70 in New York City, and as high as 60 degrees in Vermont.

Sharply colder weather will hit by the end of the week.

Latest Storm Targeted Pennsylvania: Damage As Bad As Hurricane Sandy?

It seems Pennsylvania took the brunt of the latest winter storm that swept across the nation.

On Wednesday, freezing rain took down countless trees, branches and powerlines in Pennsylvania and surrounding regions, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without electricity.

Some people said the damage reminded them somewhat of the destruction from 2012's Hurricane Sandy.

Here's the Associated Press's video about the ice storm: