User:CapeVerdeWave/1985 United States–Canada tornado outbreak
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On May 30–31, 1985, a severe outbreak of 61 tornadoes, including 14 in Canada, affected portions of central and eastern North America, particularly Ontario, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. The severe weather event is often referred to as the 1985 United States–Canada tornado outbreak or the Barrie tornado outbreak, the latter alluding to an F4 tornado that affected Barrie, Ontario. The outbreak is also referred to as Black Friday in Canada. It is the largest and most intense tornado outbreak ever to hit the Allegheny Plateau, including Appalachian Ohio and the Twin Tiers, and the worst tornado outbreak in Pennsylvania history in terms of deaths and destruction.
Type | Tornado outbreak |
---|---|
Duration | May 30–31, 1985 |
Tornadoes confirmed | 61 confirmed |
Max. rating1 | F5 tornado |
Duration of tornado outbreak2 | 1 day, 8 hours, 28 minutes |
Fatalities | ≥ 90 fatalities, ≥ 1,133 injuries |
Damage | $1.27 billion (2019 USD)[nb 1][1] |
Areas affected | Midwestern and Northeastern United States, Eastern Canada (primarily Great Lakes region of Ontario, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York) |
Part of the tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 1985 1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale 2Time from first tornado to last tornado |
The deadliest and strongest tornado of this outbreak was an F5 on the Fujita scale that touched down in Portage County, Ohio, near Camp James A. Garfield outside Ravenna, at about 6:30 p.m. EDT (22:30 UTC) on May 31 and cut a 47-mile-long (76 km) path through Newton Falls, Niles, and Hubbard, Ohio, before entering Pennsylvania. This tornado, which produced F5-level damage in both Ohio and Pennsylvania, was the only F5 on record in the latter state and the deadliest Ohio tornado since the Xenia F5 during the 1974 Super Outbreak. The tornado affected the same area as an F4 tornado family that struck on June 7, 1947, killing six people and injuring 340 others.
The outbreak claimed 90 lives in the United States and Canada, the most for an outbreak since the 1974 Super Outbreak, and a mark that stood until the 2011 Super Outbreak. It was the third costliest tornado outbreak in the history of the U.S., where it caused $600 million (2010 USD) in damages, primarily in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. It was also one of the costliest in Canada: damage in Ontario totaled an estimated $400 million USD. The damage would total nearly $1 billion in 2010 USD. The areas hardest hit in the outbreak were Albion, Pennsylvania; Barrie, Ontario; Atlantic, Pennsylvania; Niles, Ohio; Wheatland, Pennsylvania; and Big Beaver, Pennsylvania.[nb 2][nb 3][nb 4]
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