Weather Service confirms tornado hit Chester

By Anthony R. Wood, Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: August 24, 2010

It was a mighty wind Sunday that ripped through the city of Chester's West End, and the National Weather Service has confirmed that it was, indeed, a tornado.

While the tornado traveled only 0.3 miles and its path was a mere 80 yards wide, it caused substantial tree damage, blew out a garage wall near the corner of Fourth and Engle Streets in the Delaware County town, and damaged another building, the weather service said.

As it approached the Commodore Barry Bridge, the tornado lifted and ripped up blanks from the new I-95 ramp under construction.

Officially, the twister was rated an EF-0 (the weakest designation) on the Enhanced Fujita scale, named for the researcher who developed it.

Tornado sightings aren't all that unusual around here, averaging two or three a year, according to Mark DeLisi, the climatologist at the Weather Service's Mount Holly office.

As with this one, most of the local ones are downscale, although a powerful tornado that hit Limerick in 1994 claimed three lives.

In this area, straight-line winds are a far more frequent threat than winds going in circles.

"You can get more damage with straight-line winds that can push 80, 90 m.p.h.," said DeLisi. The top winds in the Chester twister were clocked at 75 m.p.h.

In June, straight-line winds up to 90 m.p.h. were blamed for causing tremendous damage in Wallace Township in Chester County.

Contact staff writer Anthony R. Wood at 610-313-8210 or twood@phillynews.com.

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