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Twister downs trees near I-80
WHITE DEER — A tornado of the weakest type touched down Saturday evening in part of Union County, according to an official with the National Weather Service.
A representative of the Weather Service visited the site near Interstate 80 in the White Deer area Sunday after receiving reports of a tornado being spotted in the Milton and Watsontown areas Saturday evening.
The tornado blew some trees down, but no structures were damaged, and no one was reported injured, meteorologist Craig Evanego said Sunday night.
The tornado, located near a crossroads known as White Deer Furnace, was an EF0 grade tornado with an estimated maximum wind speed of 75 mph. The area in the tornado path’s was about one mile long and 50 yards wide.
Slightly more than 4,000 customers were without power following the storms that rumbled through the region Saturday evening.
The Sunbury area had 2,275 customers affected. In the Bloomsburg area, 410 customers lost power. Problems at the Marion Heights Service Center, affecting Bear Gap and Numidia areas, resulted in 1,390 customers without electricity, said Teri MacBride, regional community relations director for PPL Utilities.
The outages were caused by limbs falling on lines and trees struck by lightning. Crews worked through the night to restore power, with the last customers back in service at about 8 a.m. Sunday.
Earlier Sunday, Weather Service meteorologist Aaron Tuburski said the Weather Service received reports of a tornado being spotted near Interstate 80 in the Milton area.
One person reported seeing a tornado from a cemetery hill in Watsontown, he said.
“We know there was some damage around the area from the calls that came in,” Tuburski said.
The Weather Service had issued a tornado watch Saturday evening for the Elysburg, Catawissa and Riverside areas.
n E-mail comments to kblackledge@dailyitem.com.
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