Group Lingers as Funnel Cloud Swirls Ever Closer in Western Pennsylvania

A group of people gathered for a youth football practice lingered in a parking lot as a funnel cloud approached a high school in Nanty Glo, Pennsylvania, video captured on July 29 shows.

Stephen James Hauck Jr recorded this footage and originally posted it to Facebook. Hauck told Storyful he was at Blacklick Valley High School for youth football practice.

Though the National Weather Service (NWS) had issued severe thunderstorm warnings for the area, Hauck said, “There was no sign of any inclement or hazardous weather. I happened to look up over the tree line and see what I originally thought was smoke from a fire. Watching it briefly, I noticed it growing and moving.”

He said he yelled and instructed everyone to run for shelter at the school.

“All kids were safely in the shelter as I began filming,” he said. “In the video you can hear me saying, ‘Get down there.’ All kids were already there, but my son kept trying to sneak up and watch with me.”

Hauck told Storyful the funnel cloud traveled across the football field, knocking over bleachers and a portable toilet, before breaking up and forming again on the other hillside.

The NWS issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the area, cautioning of wind gusts up to 60 mph and penny-sized hail. Credit: Stephen James Hauck Jr via Storyful