National Weather Service confirms tornado in Highland Park, Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar
A tornado passed through Pittsburgh’s Highland Park and Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar neighborhoods Wednesday evening, the National Weather Service confirmed Thursday.
The EF0 tornado, the lowest level of tornado strength, touched down along Stanton Avenue in Highland Park around 5 p.m. Wednesday, continuing along Campania Avenue in Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar, the weather service said. The tornado traveled a mile-long, 75-yard-wide path, with wind speeds reaching up to 70 mph.
The damage, isolated mostly to Lemington Avenue, included some downed trees, snapped limbs and shingles torn from roofs.
A storm survey confirmed that an EF-0 tornado occurred in the Highland Park/Lincoln Lemington area of Allegheny County yesterday. For more details, see: https://t.co/AyUP7ENr6j pic.twitter.com/UtEnQKLlZC
— NWS Pittsburgh (@NWSPittsburgh) November 21, 2024
The weather service also investigated potential tornado damage near Etna and Fox Chapel Thursday, said Meteorologist Chris Leonardi, but there was not enough evidence to classify it as a tornado.
The storm in Highland Park and Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar left “a more coherent path of damage,” Leonardi said.
The weather service radar also picked up wind rotations in the Highland Park area, Leonardi said.
“Not every rotation, of course, is a tornado,” he said, “but this one was concentrated enough and strong enough.”
The warm weather early Wednesday afternoon paired with a strong cold front and winds later in the day contributed to the tornado, Leonardi said.
“It was kind of warm and almost a little humid yesterday afternoon,” he said, “so that helped build up the instability across the strong cold front that came through.”
Cold temperatures are expected to continue overnight and early Friday, with the possibility of an inch of snowfall. As temperatures rise between 9 and 11 a.m. Friday, the snow will transition to rain, Leonardi said.
Wind gusts up to 30 mph and temperatures in the mid-40s are forecast.
Quincey Reese is a TribLive reporter covering the Greensburg and Hempfield areas. She also does reporting for the Penn-Trafford Star. A Penn Township native, she joined the Trib in 2023 after working as a Jim Borden Scholarship intern at the company for two summers. She can be reached at qreese@triblive.com.
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