MORGANTOWN — It was a tornado.
Albeit, the weakest to be measured by the Enhanced Fujita Scale.
Investigators from the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh determined Friday that the high wind and funnel cloud on Kingwood Pike Wednesday evening was indeed a tornado.
They measured it at an EF-0, meaning the winds were hitting the area at 65-70 miles per hour. That’s considered a light tornado.
About six houses were damaged in the storm that blew in around 6 p.m., MECCA 911 director Jim Smith said previously.
No injuries were reported.
The National Weather Service gave what it calls Preliminary Damage Survey Results Friday morning. According to that report, the tornado hit about a one-quarter-mile swath of Kingwood Pike from 5:42-5:43 p.m. Wednesday. Winds at their peak reached 70 mph and were 60 yards at their widest.
Investigators look at the twisting of tree limbs and roofs of dwellings to determine if a tornado went through, NWS meteorologist Pat Herald said Thursday.
“The scale of it all, too,” he said. “How wide the swath of damage is.”
June appears to be the month for Monongalia County to see tornadic activity.
A tornado June 18, 2016, blew was confirmed in western Monongalia County.
Another twister was confirmed June 23, 2017, in the Cheat Lake area, around Mont Chateau Road.
Monongalia County has had about eight official tornadoes since 1950.
Story from The Dominion Post