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Thursday's Tornado Tally Has Increased to Nine

WEWS

By: Katie McGraw

Posted at 1:43 PM, Jun 17, 2023

and last updated 2023-06-18 12:06:18-04

June 15, 2023 - Thursday's storms resulted in a narrow but long path of damage across our viewing extending, extending from northwestern Ohio near Toledo through Ashland County. The National Weather Service in Cleveland surveyed the damage on Friday and Saturday and found damage that shows nine tornadoes touched down Thursday evening. The NWS will be continuing to update its findings as needed, so the information below is considered preliminary and could be updated/changed.

Many people saw rain and storms yesterday evening, but the damaging severe storms were in a very narrow (~40 miles wide) yet very long area (~200 miles long). Very impressive longevity. pic.twitter.com/gD7leNYyPE
— Katie McGraw (@KatieMcGrawx) June 16, 2023

1. OAK HARBOR/OTTAWA COUNTY TORNADO: 6:49 - 6:58 PM
The National Weather Service found EF-2 tornado damage south of Oak Harbor, Ohio, with estimated peak winds of 130 mph. The tornado was on the ground for about nine minutes, with a path length of 3.45 miles and a maximum width of 200 yards. There were no injuries or fatalities reported. The NWS in Cleveland said the tornado touched down about 3 miles south of Oak Harbor in Ottawa County and moved east-northeast and damaged five homes. A few of these homes lost their roofs. Seven barns were also destroyed and up to ten cattle fatalities were reported.

More damages in Oak Harbor. pic.twitter.com/WsbsX8PqHS
— Bryn Caswell (@BrynCaswellTV) June 16, 2023

2. RICE TOWNSHIP/SANDUSKY COUNTY TORNADO: 6:57 – 6:58 PM
The National Weather Service found EF-1 tornado damage in Rice Township, Ohio, with estimated peak winds of 95 mph. The tornado was on the ground for about a minute with a path length of 0.15 miles and a maximum width of 100 yards. There were no injuries or fatalities reported. The NWS in Cleveland said the tornado briefly touched down near Township Road 153 and Township Road 146. It moved east-northeast and knocked down seven trees. Two of the trees crashed onto a home and another snapped at the base. It dissipated just east of the home.

3. VICKERY/SANDUSKY COUNTY TORNADO: 7:18 - 7:19 PM
The National Weather Service found EF-0 tornado damage near Vickery, Ohio, with estimated peak winds of 80 mph. The tornado was on the ground for about one minute with a path length of 0.33 miles and a maximum width of 50 yards. There were no injuries or fatalities reported. The NWS in Cleveland said the tornado briefly touched down along CR 247 and damaged a metal roof of an outbuilding. It then moved east southeast across Schertz Ditch and continued into a tree line. Metal roofing was thrown into a field and shingles from a home were thrown back toward the west.

4. BELLEVUE/SANDUSKY COUNTY TORNADO: 7:40 – 7:42 PM
The National Weather Service found EF-0 tornado damage in Bellevue, Ohio, with estimated peak winds of 80 mph. The tornado was on the ground for about two minutes with a path length of 0.93 miles and a maximum width of 500 yards. There were no injuries or fatalities reported. The NWS in Cleveland said the tornado began on Parkview Place in northern Bellevue and knocked down several power poles. It moves southeast and caused tree damage before continuing south to Kilbourne Street, damaging more trees and then dissipating.

There was other damage noted in Sandusky County that was consistent with straight-line wind damage with estimated wind speeds of 70 mph.

5. PERU/HURON COUNTY: 7:48 PM – 8:04 PM

The National Weather Service found EF-2 tornado damage in Peru, Ohio, with estimated peak winds of 115 mph. The tornado was on the ground for about 16 minutes with a path length of 9.43 miles and a maximum width of 1100 yards. There were no injuries or fatalities reported.

The NWS in Cleveland said the tornado began south of Monroeville, where several trees were snapped along the road and along the western side of the Huron River. The twister continued south along Hettle Road and continued to damage trees along with a couple of barns and outbuildings. The damage was consistent with EF0-EF1 damage. The most significant damage occurred near Snyder Road and Peru Center Road. Several homes were heavily damaged from a high end EF1 to low end EF-2 tornado wind speeds. A piece of slate roofing was even lifted off a building and impaled a tree to the southeast. An outbuilding was destroyed, and material was lofted a quarter of a mile southeast into a home and settled into a tree line. In this area, about 10 building sustained damage. One home was even shifted off its foundation and the tornado was not done yet. It continued south across Peru Center Road toward Townline Road 131 and State Route 61 causing additional tree damage and minor outbuilding damage. Once the tornado reached Hanville Corners Road and Townline Road 113, outbuildings and Silos were heavily damaged with twisted debris and lofted in various directions. A resident also noted there was minor damage in this same area before the main tornado hit from the north. The tornado kept moving southeast toward SR 162 and Ridge Road and heavily damaged a barn before dissipitating near the west of North Fair field.

To the west of this tornado track, damage occurred from straight-line winds with estimated wind speeds of 80 mph for portions of Peru Township and Greenfield Township.

Not a pretty site this morning in Peru - Huron Co.

Portion of state route 61 closed off. Downed tree & powerline snapped in pieces.

More than 3k without power. pic.twitter.com/6ZLkpbXqBi
— Taneisha Cordell (@TaneishaCordell) June 16, 2023

6. NORTH FAIRFIELD/ HURON COUNTY: 7:59 – 8:17 PM

The National Weather Service reported an EF-1 tornado in North Fairfield, Ohio. The NWS said the peak winds were estimated to be 110 mph. The path length was 9.92 miles with a max width of 1100 yards. No injuries or fatalities were reported. This tornado formed as supercell thunderstorm cycled across central Huron County after the dissipation of another tornado. The tornado was on the ground for nearly 20 minutes and started near New State Road and Townline Road 131, downing a deteriorating barn and moved south toward North Fairfield. This is when the tornado picked up in intensity, lifting a large portion of a roof off an outbuilding and downing several trees on Hanville Corners Road. A power pole was separated from the power lines with additional tree damage. It entered North Fairfield causing widespread tree and power line damage throughout the village. Some roofing material was lifted off homes and some trees fell onto homes. A large sign was ripped off the façade of a building. Several light and power poles were leaning along Main Street. Most of the damage reflected an EF-0 to EF-1 tornado, but the was the widest swath of damage in the path of the tornado.

It continued to move SE across Penn Road toward Old State Road and Olive Road, where a large area of snapped and shredded trees fell and additional damage occurred to several barns and outbuildings. The worst of the storm occurred near the intersection of Old State Road and Townline Road 12. Several large trees were snapped and a mobile home was heavily damaged. Three power poles snapped at the base just east of this intersection.

The storm tracked on toward the SE where several silos were heavily damaged. Near Edwards Road and Boughtonville Road, several roofs were displaced off outbuildings and the second floor of a residence was heavily damaged. The tornado continued toward the Greenwich and Milan Townline and snapped a large path of trees. The tornado began to cycle down west of Greenwich, producing minor tree damage and leaning power poles. Additionally, the was a large area of strong straight-line wind damage of about 80 mph west of this damage path.

7. GREENWICH/HURON COUNTY TORNADO: 8:18 – 8:24 p.m.
The National Weather Service reported another EF-1 tornado in Huron County that occurred in Greenwich, Ohio. The NWS said the estimated peak winds were 105 mph. The path length was 4.05 miles with a max width of 250 yards. No injuries or fatalities were reported. This was the final tornado of a series from a supercell thunderstorm that cycled across Huron County, producing three separate tornadoes. This tornado had a deviant wet to east track, compared to the first two that moved SE. It started near Townline Road 12 and Edwards Road, where several softwood trees were snapped. The tornado hit a business causing damage to an office, several silos, an outbuilding and some equipment. The tornado followed continued along Townline Road 12 East damaging more trees and weak EF-0 damage continued down Omega Road before the tornado dissipated near State Route 13, NE of Greenwich.

8. NANKIN/ASHLAND COUNTY TORNADO: 8:47 – 8:49 PM
The National Weather Service found EF-0 tornado damage near Nankin in Ashland County, Ohio, with estimated peak winds of 85 mph. The tornado was on the ground for about two minutes with a path length of 1.2 miles and a maximum width of 300 yards. There were no injuries or fatalities reported. The NWS in Cleveland said the tornado touched down between County Road 801 and State Route 58 and uprooted several trees. It tracked southeast toward Township Road 713 and damaged one residence, particularly to the roof of the home, a chicken coop, and a barn that also lost a portion of the roof. An outbuilding suffered damage near Township Road 713 and Rt. 302.

9. TOLEDO/LUCAS COUNTY TORNADO: 6:06 – 6:10 p.m.
There was another EF-2 tornado reported just outside of our viewing area in Toledo, Ohio and was the first reported tornado in NW Ohio. The NWS said the estimated peak winds were 130 mph and it was on the ground for about 4 minutes with a path length of 2.0 miles and max width of 300 yards. There were no injuries or fatalities reported.