The first six tornadoes of 2019 struck in five different states. On Jan. 4 at 4:42 am, a tornado hit briefly north of Abbeville AL. The tornado tipped over a truck that was driving down US 431. The driver was uninjured. There was also some minor building damage, trees down and a power outage.
This twister was only on the ground for 0.15 mile and was just 35 yards wide (1/3rd of a football field). It was classified EF0 with winds of 85 mph.
About an hour and a half later, the same storm spawned another small tornado across the state line in Georgia near the town of Zetto. One residence had significant damage. Part of a roof was torn off, a shed blown in trees were toppled. The tornado crossed state route 37.
On Jan. 6, two waterspouts moved onshore near Santa Cruz, California, doing some damage. A large portion of the Dolphin Restaurant roof at West Cliff was taken off. The twisters struck about 20 minutes and one mile apart and were both rated EF-0. The strongest one (that hit the restaurant) had winds estimated at 85 mph.
The same storm brought heavy rain and strong winds to California.
On Tuesday (1/8) two tornadoes struck – one in NE Ohio and the other in W. Pennsylvania. The Ohio tornado crossed Mosquito Lake around 10:25 am and moved into the town of Cortland. The twister was rated EF1 with winds of up to 100 mph. The twister was 75 yards wide and it was on the ground for 4.5 miles. There was some building damage and trees were downed.
A second tornado touched down about an hour later across the state border in Pennsylvania at the town of New Lebanon. This twister was 400 yards wide and was on the ground for nearly 3 miles. There were numerous trees uprooted and snapped off and one building was damaged. The National Weather Service determined that this tornado was an EF1 with winds of 95 mph. It was only the 7th tornado recorded in Pennsylvania during the month of January. This was part of a general area of storms that produced large hail and wind gusts over 50 mph.
by Bill Steffen (2019, Jan 9) WOOD-TV
