NWS: Microburst Caused Heavy Damage, Stranded Golfers At Quicksilver Golf Club
MCDONALD, PA. (KDKA) -- A golf club in Washington County is closed today as it cleans up severe damage from last night's storms.
When the severe weather hit the Quicksilver Golf Club in McDonald on Thursday evening, fierce winds and driving rain lasted for more than 20 minutes. The National Weather Service now says the storm that hit was a microburst, as was speculated by many who were at the club at the time.
NWS officials say winds between 60-70 miles per hour caused the damage to the course.
We are getting a lot of questions about Washington County's storm damage over by the golf course yesterday, and what happened. Well, it was a microburst. Here is what the terminal radar velocity looked like at the time. The white arrows show the way the wind was blowing. #pawx pic.twitter.com/ST0axY2mza
— NWS Pittsburgh (@NWSPittsburgh) June 28, 2019
"You can tell by all the damage, we got a pretty good windstorm," groundskeeper Bob McVicker said as he picked up branches from knocked down trees.
More than 50 trees were uprooted or splintered, and an outbuilding, or shed, was completely ripped apart and carried across the parking lot. Fences were also damaged.
The largest uprooted tree was on hole 17. It was uprooted, and its roots reached more than 10 feet into the air.
The uprooted part of this tree at Quicksilver Golf Club is about 10-12 feet high. pic.twitter.com/H1mKdMaMS5
— Chris Hoffman (@NewsmanChris) June 28, 2019
Here's a look at some of the damage at the Quicksilver Golf Club in McDonald. pic.twitter.com/MrPehxbT2R
— Chris Hoffman (@NewsmanChris) June 28, 2019
Several people were on the course, but there were no injuries.
The club's general manager Carl Pia has worked at the golf course for 17 years, and he says he's never seen anything like the severe weather that hit yesterday. He said the course lost power and their driving range building was thrown into a nearby parking lot, becoming a pile of rubble.
According to Pia, the day was picture-perfect for golf. Around 4:30 in the afternoon, the storm came and quickly brought chaos.
"The rain was so heavy and so hard, it was blowing inside the building," Pia said. "We couldn't physically close the bar room doors that lead out to the golf course."
He added that some golfers did get stranded on the course during the storm, but there could have been many more as league play was about to begin.
"We did have some golfers stranded out there that had to wait out the storm in stay under trees, but thank God nothing happened to them," said Pia.
As a result, the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh is reminding golfers not to seek shelters under trees if they get stuck in a storm.
On their Twitter account, they say, "The golfers yesterday evening at Quicksilver Golf Course were fortunate to avoid injury. They were vulnerable to lightning & trees falling on them due to high winds."
Golfers, please do not seek shelter under a tree if a storm moves into the area! The golfers yesterday evening at Quicksilver Golf Course were fortunate to avoid injury. They were vulnerable to lightning & trees falling on them due to high winds. #lightningsafety #StormReady pic.twitter.com/lkLyp2pcv6
— NWS Pittsburgh (@NWSPittsburgh) June 28, 2019
Crews began cleaning up overnight, but the process is going to be extensive.
There was a tournament scheduled to begin there today.
