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After turning on WKHJ in the morning on Thursday, I heard that a tornado (it was later determined to be a 'downburst') had touched down on Oakland Sang Run Rd from the storms the night before. It's not every day that this happens in Garrett County, so I jumped in my car to see what had happened.

It brought back memories for me, as some friends of mine and I had searched for remnants of a tornado many years earlier. I think it was 1999 or 2000, but a tornado had touched down near the Garrett County airport (among other places) and we were driving up to check on my friends airplane. When we got to the entrance fo the airport, there were 3 or 4 huge trees down, blocking the road. We climbed over the trees and walked up to the runway. Had I not seen this, I never would have believed it:

As we walked up to runway, there was a Cessna chained down to the asphalt. In the middle of the wing, there was a twig - not a stick or a branch - but a twig that had been 'pushed' through 2 feet or so of the fiberglass wing on the airplane. It was quite a sight, and it was inconveniently before time were digital cameras were prevalent, so I have no photos. Anyway, seeing that I have credentials as a day-after 'tornado chaser', I was anxious to see what happened near the Wisp Ski Resort.

As you can see from the photos, whatever it was was powerful enough to break off these mature trees near mid-trunk. Thankfully, the damage was not extensive and there were no major injuries, but it doesn't really compare to the fallout from the tornado in 1999/2000.

Damaging Downburst

Heavy winds blast area near Oakland Sang Run Road

Sarah Moses
Cumberland Times-News

MCHENRY - More than two miles of land on and near Oakland Sang Run Road were damaged in what is being called "a downburst" during a Wednesday night storm.

"We've had discussions with the (National) Weather Service and they are not convinced it was a tornado," Brad Frantz, Garrett County director of emergency management, said. "It could have been a very small cell that had some circular motion, but it doesn't appear to be that. The trees are knocked down in the same direction. This looks like more of a high wind."

Frantz said that there was no sign of major damage to the nearby homes; however, a Friendsville woman was injured when trees fell on her vehicle as she was traveling on Oakland Sang Run Road.

Following the 7 p.m. accident that led to Ashley Savage, 27, being transported to Garrett Memorial Hospital, Garrett County Roads workers began attempting to clear the roadway to make the area safe for travel. As of early Thursday afternoon, workers were still clearing the area of debris. The road did have one lane open.

According to Allen Fike, foreman with Garrett County Roads, they hoped to have the road cleared by the end of Thursday or by this morning.

Todd Meyers, spokesman for Allegheny Power, said that around 11 p.m. Wednesday, one pole was downed as were six spans of power line in the area of the downburst. By Thursday afternoon, those customers had power again. However, he said that nearby Youghiogheny Mountain Club was affected by the storm as well, and that it could be this morning before 25 customers there have electricity.

Richard Kane, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Pittsburgh office, said that it appears to have been a downburst of wind during the storm.

Kane said that the damage seems to be located in one spot and that trees were broken in the same direction and uprooted rather than in a circular fashion.

"The radar suggested it could have been a touch down," Kane said, "but none of the evidence really justified that. It was more damage from winds than a quick touch down."

Contact Sarah Moses at smoses@times-news.com.