12 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 1 flood, 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 Cleveland, OH wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 18, 3:15 AM EST, 8 hours 13 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OHIO 415 AM EDT TUE MAY 18 2004 .DISCUSSION... CONCERN FOR AM IS PCPN NE IL...IT DOES SEEM TO BE WKNG AS PER SATL...ATTM WL GO A HIGHER POP FOR THE N WITH NO TIMG AND AFTN FOR CNRL AND SRN CWA. CONCERN ABOUT CLD COVER IN THE N WITH REGARD TO SVR WX. SHOULD BE SOME SUN TODAY SPCLY SRN PTN FA...SO AMS SHOULD DESTABLIZE...WL MENTION SVR IN SRN CWA ZONES. WIND AND HAIL ARE THREATS. TNGT WITH WAVE DVLPG ON FRONT SOME PARTS OF SRN CWA MAY NEED A FLOOD WATCH. ATTM IT IS TOUGH TO SAY WHICH COUNTIES...THE BEST THREAT IS LATER THIS AFTN...SO WL MENTION THIS IN SPS. SOME LINGERING PCPN SRN CWA WED WITH FRONTAL BOUNDARY CLOSE AND THEN A CHC EVERYWHERE AS SYS MOVS N. && .CLE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OH...NONE. PA...NONE. && KIELTYKA
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 519 AM EDT TUE MAY 18 2004 OHZ003-006>014-017>019-089-PAZ001>003-191114- ASHTABULA INLAND OH-ASHTABULA LAKESHORE OH-CRAWFORD PA-CUYAHOGA OH- ERIE OH-GEAUGA OH-HANCOCK OH-HURON OH-LAKE OH-LORAIN OH-LUCAS OH- NORTHERN ERIE PA-OTTAWA OH-SANDUSKY OH-SENECA OH-SOUTHERN ERIE PA- WOOD OH- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ASHTABULA...BOWLING GREEN...CHARDON... CLEVELAND...ELYRIA...ERIE...FINDLAY...FOSTORIA...FREMONT... JEFFERSON...LORAIN...MEADVILLE...NORWALK...PAINESVILLE... PORT CLINTON...SANDUSKY...TIFFIN AND TOLEDO 519 AM EDT TUE MAY 18 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTION OF NORTHERN OHIO AND A PORTION OF NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE MAINLY THIS AFTERNOON AS A COLD FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE NORTH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... A THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS ARE IN THE FORECAST THROUGH MONDAY...SOME OF THEM COULD BE SEVERE. LATER FORECASTS WILL NEED TO BE MONITORED. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED ANYTIME THIS AFTERNOON. OHZ020>023-027>033-036>038-047-191114- ASHLAND OH-CRAWFORD OH-HOLMES OH-KNOX OH-MAHONING OH-MARION OH- MEDINA OH-MORROW OH-PORTAGE OH-RICHLAND OH-STARK OH-SUMMIT OH- TRUMBULL OH-WAYNE OH-WYANDOT OH- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...AKRON...ASHLAND...BUCYRUS...CANTON... MANSFIELD...MARION...MEDINA...MILLERSBURG...MOUNT GILEAD... MOUNT VERNON...RAVENNA...UPPER SANDUSKY...WARREN... WOOSTER AND YOUNGSTOWN 519 AM EDT TUE MAY 18 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTION OF NORTHERN OHIO. .DAY ONE...TODAY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS A COLD FRONT MOVES IN. HEAVY RAIN IS ALSO POSSIBLE ESPECIALLY TONIGHT AS THE FRONT BECOMES STATIONARY AND A LOW PRESSURE AREA MOVES ALONG IT. THIS COULD CAUSE FLOODING. THIS POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING WILL NEED TO BE MONITORED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... A THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS IS IN THE FORECAST THROUGH MONDAY. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS COULD BE SEVERE. LATER FORECASTS WILL NEED TO BE MONITORED. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY BY MID-AFTERNOON.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 718 AM EDT TUE MAY 18 2004 OHZ003-006>014-017>019-089-PAZ001>003-181414- ASHTABULA INLAND OH-ASHTABULA LAKESHORE OH-CRAWFORD PA-CUYAHOGA OH- ERIE OH-GEAUGA OH-HANCOCK OH-HURON OH-LAKE OH-LORAIN OH-LUCAS OH- NORTHERN ERIE PA-OTTAWA OH-SANDUSKY OH-SENECA OH-SOUTHERN ERIE PA- WOOD OH- 718 AM EDT TUE MAY 18 2004 SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE IN NORTHERN OHIO AND NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA THIS AFTERNOON. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON COULD BECOME SEVERE AS A COLD FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE NORTH. DAMAGING WIND AND LARGE HAIL WILL BE THE PRIMARY THREAT. PEOPLE IN NORTHERN OHIO AND NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA WILL NEED TO MONITOR THE SKY AND BE READY TO TAKE SHELTER IF NECESSARY. OHZ020>023-027>033-036>038-047-181414- ASHLAND OH-CRAWFORD OH-HOLMES OH-KNOX OH-MAHONING OH-MARION OH- MEDINA OH-MORROW OH-PORTAGE OH-RICHLAND OH-STARK OH-SUMMIT OH- TRUMBULL OH-WAYNE OH-WYANDOT OH- 718 AM EDT TUE MAY 18 2004 SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE OVER INLAND NORTHERH OHIO LATER TODAY AND THIS EVENING. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING COULD BE SEVERE AND HAVE HEAVY RAIN. DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL WILL BE PRIMARY THREAT. THIS WILL BE CAUSED BY A COLD FRONT THAT WILL MOVE THROUGH NORTHERN OHIO LATER TODAY AND THIS EVENING. THE FRONT WILL BECOME STATIONARY AND THIS COULD CAUSE MORE THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP TONIGHT AND THEY COULD HAVE HEAVY RAIN AND CAUSE SOME FLOODING. PEOPLE IN INLAND NORTHERN OHIO WILL NEED TO MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO SAFETY IF THREATENING WEATHER DEVELOPS. KIELTYKA
The Cleveland radar (KCLE), 44 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:25 UTC.
12 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm winds downed trees and large limbs throughout the county. The roof of a lumber yard building in Mount Vernon was torn off. A second building nearby also sustained some damage.
Nickel size hail was observed near Marengo.
Thunderstorm winds tore the roof off of a barn approximately three miles east of Upper Sandusky. A couple trees were also downed.
Penny size hail was observed.
Thunderstorm winds downed a few trees and overturned a camper trailer.
Thunderstorm winds downed several trees and large limbs. A house and and at least one car were damaged by fallen trees.
Penny size hail was observed four miles east of Eaton Estates in Columbia Station.
Penny size hail was observed.
Penny size hail was observed.
Thunderstorm winds downed a few trees in and around Greenwich.
Thunderstorm winds downed many trees across the county.
Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 mph downed several trees. At least one home was damaged by fallen trees.
Thunderstorm winds downed several trees.
Thunderstorm winds downed around two dozen trees. At least four homes were damaged by fallen trees.
Thunderstorm winds downed several large trees.
Thunderstorm winds toppled two large trees.
Thunderstorm winds downed several large tree limbs north of Chatham in Litchfield Township.
Penny size hail was observed.
Thunderstorms dumped over an inch of rain on already saturated ground causing several small streams and creeks to leave their banks. A spotter in Lagrange recorded 1.3 inches of rain in an hour during the early evening hours. Widespread lowland flooding also occurred in the county. State Route 83 had to be closed near Grafton due to flooding. Other roads were closed in Lagrange Township.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Ohio in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Ohio, May 2004
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: 5400496, 5400494, 5400495, 5400502, 5400503, 5400499, 5400489, 5400490, 5400497, 5400505, 5400504, 5400498, 5400491, 5399301, 5400492, 5400500, 5400493, 5400501, 5399300.