MORGANTOWN — When Jessica Klobchar saw those uprooted trees, she grabbed her phone and started taking photographs.
“I thought it was crazy about the trees because it didn’t seem like the storm was that bad at that point,” said Klobchar, who lives on Kingwood Pike. “Then I saw those clouds.”
Klobchar’s commute home from work Wednesday took her into the path of a quick-forming storm that may have been a tornado.
A team of investigators from the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh will have to make that determination — possibly today, meteorologist Pat Herald said.
About six houses were damaged in the storm that blew in around 6 p.m., said MECCA 911 director Jim Smith, who was doing a day-after assessment Thursday on the Pike.
No injuries were reported, Smith said, but funnel clouds were.
“Definitely funnel clouds,” Smith said, “but we don’t know if any touched down.”
Herald said his office was also looking into reports of a possible tornado Wednesday in Westmoreland County, Pa., which neighbors Pittsburgh.
Investigators look at the twisting of tree limbs and roofs of dwellings to determine a yay or nay, Herald said.
“The scale of it all, too,” he said. “How wide the swath of damage is.”
Across north-central West Virginia, meanwhile, MetroNews reported widespread flooding in Barbour County from Wednesday’s weather.
In Monongalia County, June appears to be the month for tornadic activity.
A tornado two years ago on June 18 blew the windows out of a house on Sierra Farm Road in western Monongalia County.
Another confirmed twister last June 23 damaged several boats and a restaurant at Cheat Lake.
Monongalia County has had about eight official tornadoes since 1950.
A deadly tornado in Shinnston, Harrison County, on June 23, 1944, killed 103 people while seriously injuring 430 more.
Modern-day meteorologists have estimated that the Shinnston storm carried winds of up to 200 mph, making it an EF-4 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, which measures the severity of tornadoes.
AccuWeather says to expect runs on sunscreen and air-conditioning in the coming days.
Look for a humid high of 88 today with lots of sun, the forecaster said. Temperatures will climb to the 90s through Monday.
