NWS confirms separate tornadoes in Washington, Greene counties

Greene County Emergency Management Director Rich Policz said the majority of storm damage was reported in Center Township along Scott Run and Morris Run roads about two miles west of Rogersville.

Emergency crews found trees damaged in the area, along with siding ripped from one house, a farm utility building destroyed and a recreation vehicle turned onto its side, Policz said. He cited a cellphone video posted to social media that appeared to show the tornado coming from West Virginia and approaching Washington and Greene counties.

“I’ve seen the video coming out of West Virginia. It’s quite obvious, but I’m not a weather expert so we leave it to them to determine,” Policz said of NWS officials visiting the area Tuesday trying to determine whether a tornado caused the damage. “They’re on their way here.”

The NWS later confirmed that an EF-0 tornado with winds up to 85 miles per hour struck that area just southeast of Graysville. It is the eighth tornado reported in Greene County since 1950, but the third one to strike the county in the past six years.

While there was some damage in western Greene County, there were fewer problems reported in Washington County, according to county Public Safety Service Director Gerry Coleman. He said he contacted the 911 dispatch center Monday night and was surprised to learn there was only one report of utility wires down in West Finley Township, where the storm cloud was spotted.

“I was shocked,” Coleman said about the lack of damage in Washington County. “I had some national media call (Monday) night. All the news channels were tracking it and I did see a video from someone who took a pretty good video of what I would call a tornado, not a funnel cloud.”

The NWS team in the field confirmed his suspicions, announcing that an EF-2 tornado packing winds of 110 to 120 miles per hour traveled from West Virginia into the southwestern corner of Washington County. However, damage was limited in West Finley Township and no structures were hit by the tornado.

“The area we’re talking about is close to the Greene County line. That’s where the storm and funnel cloud got a lot worse,” Coleman said. “They may have more damage south of the border in Greene County.”

There was also significantly more destruction just across the state line in Dallas, W.Va., where the tornado originated and damaged homes and brought down numerous trees.

“We were lucky. I’ll take that,” Coleman said. “It sounds like we made out pretty good as far as structures and injuries.”

The storm also prompted a tornado warning in southeastern Fayette County, and the NWS was planning to send a team to the Ohiopyle area today to survey storm damage.

Once a rare occurrence, tornadoes in the region have become more commonplace in recent years. According to NWS Pittsburgh records, there were 32 tornadoes in the region last year – including 15 in October alone – despite the area typically averaging three or four annually. These were the second and third tornadoes of the year in the area, according to the NWS.