Possible Tornado Near Lebanon, PA 6/30

UPDATE: Here are some more photos from Lancaster by futureweatherman12. As a Commenter pointed out below, there were multiple storms that day, so I can't be sure that any of these pics were taken with the first storm (which is discussed below).

UPDATE: Here's another photo uploaded to our Photo Gallery from Jonestown, PA, by duke2943

Blog reader Kelly pointed out that WGAL has an amateur video purporting to show a tornado or funnel cloud near Lebanon, Pennsylvania yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately the video does not give a time but says it was taken just north of town on 7th street.

Here is a plot of the storm spotter reports that day - only one was issued in the general area, saying "TREES AND WIRES DOWN ALONG ROUTE 343 IN NORTH LEBANON TWP."

Hail to 1 inch in size was also reported to the west with this storm, and at 1:04 PM the radar showed a strong storm with 2-dimensional shear and a weak mesocyclone, along with 1.5" hail:

The radar showed very weak rotation, if any. My guess would be that this was a wall cloud, inflow tail, or scud cloud, because all of those are much more common than tornadoes, because there were no spotter reports of a funnel, and because the radar did not show much to indicate a tornado. But, radars have been wrong before and we'll probably never know - it is nearly impossible to confirm a funnel cloud on radar unless the video is steady for several minutes and can be timelapsed, or if it is close enough to see rapid rotation.

Comments (3): Kelly:

Thanks Jesse for posting the radar images for this particular storm!

Posted by Kelly | July 3, 2009 12:05 AM Kelly:

The storm with the possible funnel cloud in Lebanon County occured during the storms at 1pm. There were other storms later in the day that were not as intense. My co-workers were at lunch during this particular storm (Hershey)and said the sky was pitch black and eerie looking and they saw what appeared to be a funnel cloud to the Northeast of Hershey towards Palmyra area. I agree scud clouds can take on all shapes and sizes and can be deceiving..I was monitoring the storm from the South side of building (Hershey)and was watching for rotation and possible tornado formation as the sky was very ominous, but and all the action was to the North. George, I saw the same cloud you mentioned later in the day, and was looking for any rotation and did not see anything. These clouds definitely catch a weather watchers attention!

Posted by Kelly | July 3, 2009 12:01 AM GEORGE LANDIS:

I believe that video was from the storm that occurred 6:30-7:00pm in Lebanon (actually heavy shower). I looked out to the west and also viewed what appeared to be the same funnel, a hugh towering cu with an upside down cone at the base.

Posted by GEORGE LANDIS | July 2, 2009 10:38 AM