A tornado touched down in the Portersville area at about 7:53 p.m. Tuesday, July 21, as confirmed by the National Weather Service’s Pittsburgh office.

The tornado touched down near 109 Bauder School Road in Prospect and was documented on Facebook by storm chaser group, Pennsylvania Weather Group. Video of the event matched National Weather Service predictions, according to Jeff Craven, meteorologist with the Pittsburgh office of the National Weather Service.

The National Weather Service will send out meteorologists to do a formal storm damage survey tomorrow.

Craven added there is evidence suggesting the tornado crossed Interstate 79, as cars slowed down according to Google traffic data. The storm touched five different counties and two different states, spanning areas such as Zanesville, Ohio, and New Castle and Forest County in Pennsylvania.

Though Pennsylvania Weather Group is unaffiliated with the weather service, it isn’t uncommon for the service to look for evidence of extreme weather on social media platforms to see if it aligns with data it has collected.

It was exactly where we expected a tornado to occur, Craven said. It “made perfect sense.”

The overarching tornado warning was lifted as of 8:15 p.m., as the weather service reported the storm had reduced in intensity.

According to NWS, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located 6 miles northeast of Ellwood City moving southeast at about 30 mph at 7:46 p.m.

NWS warned of danger from flying debris to those caught without shelter. Damage was expected to impact mobile homes, roofs, windows and vehicles in the area of Prospect, Portersville, McConnells Mill State Park and Rose Point Park and Moraine State Park.