U.S.-Canadian Outbreak
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The U.S.-Canadian Outbreak was a tornado outbreak that occurred in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, Canada on May 31, 1985. Forty-three tornadoes were included in the event. It is the biggest tornado outbreak ever to hit this region.
A town in Pennsylvania called Wheatland was nearly wiped out by a massive tornado of F5 on the Fujita scale. It's the only F5 in Pennsylvania's history. It killed 18 people and injured 310, and was one of the most powerful tornadoes observed east of the Mississippi. The Wheatland tornado actually started in Ohio and then immediately strengthened from F0 to F3, then moved into Pennsylvania as an F4 and a weak F5 going into Wheatland.
Another F4 tornado cut a 65-mile swath through a forest and through the town of Lock Haven. The force was so powerful that it shook the ground nearby. Parker Dam State Park still bears the scars from this storm. A third tornado largely destroyed the center of Albion, Pennsylvania.
The most notable tornado of the day in Ontario was the one that hit in Barrie, Ontario killing 12 and injuring 155. That tornado was also an F4.
The outbreak lasted six hours. Seventy-six people lost their lives in the third costliest tornado outbreak in U.S. history. It caused $450 million in damage in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.
The odds of an outbreak of this magnitude occurring this far north and east again are approximately 1 in 75,000, although global warming could increase the potential.