3 hail, 1 lightning, 1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Wilmington, OH wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 15, 2:42 AM EST, 1 hour 18 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 342 AM EDT TUE MAY 15 2001 07Z SFC ANALYSIS INDICTED A WARM FRONT EXTENDING FROM CENTRAL MN SEWD INTO SWRN IN. KILN 88D ALSO INDICATED AN OUTFLOW BOUNDARY PUSHING INTO ERN IN AND NRN KY. IMPRESSIVE MCC OVR MI WAS DROPPING INTO FA WITH INCREASING LIGHTNING ACROSS NRN FA. MODELS PROG SFC BOUNDARY TO PUSH SLOWLY EWD INTO WRN FA TODAY. THIS WL LEAD TO A SHARP TEMP GRADIENT WITH HIGHS IN PARTS OF NRN KY IN THE MID 80S AND AROUND 70 IN CENTRAL OH. THIS BOUNDARY WL CONTINUE TO BE THE FOCUS OF SHRA/TSRA TODAY. SOME TRAINING CAN BE EXPECTED SO WL INCLUDE HEAVY RAINFALL MENTION FOR ALL BUT CVG AREA. WL MENTION SVR WITH LARGE HAIL THE MAIN THREAT ALL AREAS BUT SW OF KCVG. XPCT CVG AREA TO HAVE SOME SUN AND FOR TSRA ACTIVITY TO BUILD SWWD DURING PEAK HEATING DUE TO BLOCKING OVER THE NERN STATES. BOUNDARY WL REMAIN ACROSS FA TONIGHT AND WED SO WL KEEP SHRA/TSRA IN THE FCST. .ILN...NONE. WILKINSON
The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 64 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:04 UTC.
3 hail, 1 lightning, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A barn fire in Oak Run Township was started by a lightning strike. The barn was destroyed.
Trees down on North Star Rd.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Ohio in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Ohio, May 2001
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5249229, 5249225, 5249226, 5249227, 5249228.