United States-Canadian Outbreak

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Template:Infobox tornado outbreak The U.S. - Canadian Outbreak was a tornado outbreak that occurred in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, Canada on May 31, 1985. Forty-one tornadoes were included in the event. It is the largest and most intense tornado outbreak ever to hit this region to date.

The small Pennsylvania town of Wheatland was nearly wiped out by a massive tornado, the most violent of the 41 recorded that day. It registered F5 on the Fujita scale, and to this day, it is the only F5 in Pennsylvania's history and the only one of the outbreak. 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, touching down near the Ravenna Arsenal in Portage County. It then quickly moved into Newton Falls in Trumbull County and strengthened rapidly, causing F3 and F4 damage through Newton Falls and Lordstown. It then moved east toward the PA border, causing incredible destruction in Niles and Hubbard township in eastern Trumbull county- here it exhibited its first F5 damage. As the tornado moved into Mercer county, PA, it was now a half-mile wide monster, packing winds estimated at 300 mph. The tornado was so strong at this point, that at Wheatland Tube, concrete was scoured off the parking lot, and shards of sheet metal and routing slips were wedged underneath the remaining asphalt in the lot. 95% of Wheatland's business and residential area were wiped out. The tornado finally ended near the city of Mercer, 47 miles from where it began its trek.

Elsewhere, an F4 tornado cut a 65-mile swath through a forest and through the town of Lock Haven in northwestern PA. This tornado's 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. Several other F3 and F4s rampaged through sections of the Allegheny Mountains and many state Parks throughout. Most deaths in PA occurred in these areas.

Another one of the more notable tornadoes of the day struck in Ontario, the one that hit Barrie, Ontario. It killed 12 and injured 155, and that tornado remains one of the most powerful in Canada's history; it also registered F4.

The outbreak lasted roughly from just after 4pm, with the first tornado touchdowns in Ontario till 11pm with late night tornadoes in central and southern Ohio. In that time, 88 people lost their lives in the third costliest tornado outbreak in U.S. history and one of the costliest in Canadian history as well. It caused $450 million (1985 U.S. dollars) in damage in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, plus an estimated $100 million USD in Ontario. In 2005 dollars, the total cost would be nearly $1 billion USD.

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