A cool airmass over Lake Erie provided sufficient instability for waterspouts to develop during the morning hours on September 23. Five waterspouts were reported offshore from Lorain to Avon Lake, Ohio.
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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 episode as NWS CLE wrote it up.
A cool airmass over Lake Erie provided sufficient instability for waterspouts to develop during the morning hours on September 23. Five waterspouts were reported offshore from Lorain to Avon Lake, Ohio.
The Cleveland radar (KCLE), 31 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:28 UTC.
5 waterspout. Local standard time, as filed.
The public reported a waterspout on Lake Erie 3 miles northwest of Lorain.
A trained weather spotter reported a waterspout on Lake Erie 1 mile north of Sheffield Lake.
A trained weather spotter reported a waterspout on Lake Erie 2 miles northeast of Sheffield Lake.
A trained weather spotter reported a waterspout on Lake Erie 2 miles north of Avon Lake.
A trained weather spotter reported a waterspout on Lake Erie 1 mile northwest of Sheffield Lake.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Lake Erie in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather history
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 413253, 413255, 413257, 413259, 413260.