A line of showers and isolated thunderstorms developed along a cold front across Ohio the evening of October 31st. This line moved east during the overnight hours of November 1st and was able to mix strong winds aloft down to the surface.
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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 PBZ wrote it up.
A line of showers and isolated thunderstorms developed along a cold front across Ohio the evening of October 31st. This line moved east during the overnight hours of November 1st and was able to mix strong winds aloft down to the surface. Severe thunderstorm wind damage was reported across eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, and northern West Virginia. At one time nearly 50 thousand homes were without power across the region due to downed trees and power lines.
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 Pittsburgh, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 1, 12:00 AM EST, 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 100 AM EDT FRI NOV 1 2013 .SYNOPSIS... A COLD FRONT WILL BRING WIND AND SHOWERS EARLY THIS MORNING. DRIER AIR BEHIND FRONT WILL ALLOW FOR SKIES TO CLEAR. SEASONABLE TEMPERATURES TODAY. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TODAY/... WATCH GOING TIL 10Z. FRONT WILL SOON PICK UP FORWARD SPEED REACHING MY WESTERN CWA BETWEEN 05Z AND 06Z AND CLEARING THE ENTIRE REGION BY 10Z. IMPRESSIVE WIND PROFILE WITH FRONT AS 85H WINDS REACH 70-75 KTS. THE QUESTION IS WILL THESE STRONGER WINDS BE ABLE TO MAKE IT TO THE SURFACE. IT WILL TAKE CONVECTION...WHICH AT THIS POINT...I DON'T HAVE A REAL GOOD FEEL FOR. CONVECTION WOULD HAVE TO DEVELOP RIGHT ALONG THE BOUNDARY. IT WOULD LIKELY BE OVER THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE AREA WHERE THE STRONGEST FORCING AND MOISTURE CONVERGENCE WILL BE. HOWEVER...LOOKING AT FORECAST SOUNDINGS... MIXING HEIGHTS DROP VERY LOW DURING FRONTAL PASSAGE AND CONVECTIVE TEMPS REMAIN IN THE MID 60S. WILL NEED TO PLAY BY EAR TO SEE HOW THINGS DEVELOP OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS. ONCE FRONT CLEARS...SHOWERS WILL END QUICKLY AND DRIER AIR WILL EVENTUALLY SETTLE IN. THERE IS CAA BEHIND THE BOUNDARY...HOWEVER THE AIR BEHIND THE FRONT IS NOT REAL COLD...AND WITH SUNSHINE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON...TEMPS SHOULD BE NEAR NORMAL...IF NOT A BIT ABOVE. AS MENTIONED EARLIER...THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL BE WITH FRONTAL PASSAGE. BUT...WITH MIXING HEIGHTS RISING THIS MORNING...SOME OF THE STRONGER WINDS ALOFT SHOULD BE ABLE TO MIX DOWN. WIND GUST OF 20 TO 30 MPH ARE STILL POSSIBLE THROUGHOUT THE DAY. && .SHORT TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY/... CLOUDS WILL BE ON THE INCREASE TONIGHT...AS THE NEXT SYSTEM MOVES SOUTHWARD THROUGH THE GREAT LAKES. A SHOWER IS POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTHERN PA ZONES LATE TONIGHT. FRONT WILL SLOWLY CROSS THE ENTIRE REGION SATURDAY BRINGING THE RISK FOR SHOWERS. MUCH STRONGER CAA BEHIND THIS FRONT SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY. WITH COLD AIR ALOFT AND WINDS BECOMING NORTHWESTERLY...WILL HAVE PLENTY OF CLOUDS SAT NIGHT AND THROUGH MOST OF SUNDAY. MAY SEE SCATTERED LAKE EFFECT SNOW/RAIN SHOWERS SUNDAY...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE NORTH AND RIDGES. TEMPS WILL BE COLD ENOUGH IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS TO SUPPORT ALL SNOW. NOTICEABLY COLDER TEMPS SUNDAY. && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/... TEMPS WILL MODERATE INTO THE FIRST HALF OF NEXT WEEK AS RIDGING BUILDS IN FROM THE WEST. DAYTIME MAX TEMPS LOOK TO BE APPROXIMATELY 5 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL BY WEDNESDAY. THE NEXT FRONT IS NOT EXPECTED UNTIL LATE WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY BASED ON LATEST MODEL CONSENSUS. && .AVIATION /06Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... MAINLY VFR CONDS ARE EXPD INTO THE OVRNGT HRS AS SHWRS ACCOMPANY AN APCHG STG CDFNT. FKL/DUJ ARE THE EXCEPTION AND SHOULD RMN MVFR. IN ADDN A STG LLVL JET ACRS AREA THIS EVE WITH PIT WEA BALLOON AND PBZ RADAR WND PROFILER SHOWING WNDS 50 KT TO 75 KT FM 2 TO 10 KFT. WARM AIR ALOFT WL MAKE IT DIFFICULT FOR THIS TO MIX TO THE SFC...HOWEVER GUSTS 20-30KT ARE STILL EXPD. CONCERNED SFC GUSTS MAY DCRS SOME WHICH WOULD RESULT IN MORE LLVL WND SHEAR RATHER THAN MECHANICAL TURB/MXG NR THE SFC. WL MONITOR. A PD OF IFR IS PSBL INVOF THE CDFNT AS WELL LT TNGT. SFC MXG SHOULD BRING SW WND GUSTS 25-30 KT AFT FROPA WITH MVFR CONDS LINGERING UNTIL MD MRNG WHEN VFR CU/SC RTNS. .OUTLOOK.../FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/... RSTRNS ARE PSBL LT FRI NGT THRU SAT NGT AS AN UPR TROF CROSSES THE GT LKS/OH VLY RGN OTRW GENL VFR EXPD. && .PBZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MD...NONE. OH...NONE. PA...NONE. WV...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 103 AM EDT FRI NOV 1 2013 OHZ039>041-048>050-057>059-068-069-020515- TUSCARAWAS-CARROLL-COLUMBIANA-COSHOCTON-HARRISON-JEFFERSON OH- MUSKINGUM-GUERNSEY-BELMONT-NOBLE-MONROE- 103 AM EDT FRI NOV 1 2013 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 556 IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM EDT EARLY THIS MORNING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL OHIO. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. MDZ001-PAZ007>009-013>016-020>023-029-031-073>076-WVZ001>004-012- 021>023-041-020515- GARRETT-MERCER-VENANGO-FOREST-LAWRENCE-BUTLER-CLARION-JEFFERSON PA- BEAVER-ALLEGHENY-ARMSTRONG-INDIANA-WASHINGTON-GREENE-WESTMORELAND- WESTMORELAND RIDGES-FAYETTE-FAYETTE RIDGES-HANCOCK-BROOKE-OHIO- MARSHALL-WETZEL-MARION-MONONGALIA-PRESTON-TUCKER- 103 AM EDT FRI NOV 1 2013 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 557 IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM EDT EARLY THIS MORNING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN MARYLAND...NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA...SOUTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA...WEST CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA...NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA AND NORTHERN PANHANDLE OF WEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 125 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:29 UTC.
12 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Law enforcement reported trees down near Cambridge along old Route 21.
Law enforcement reported trees down.
Law enforcement reported trees down.
Law enforcement reported large tree branches down.
The 911 Call Center reported trees down east of Coshocton.
Law enforcement reported trees down near Zane Grey Road.
Law enforcement reported several large trees down.
Law enforcement reported trees down.
Law enforcement reported numerous trees down in Cadiz.
The 911 Call Center reported trees down.
Law enforcement reported trees down across portions of the southern half of the county.
The 911 Call Center reported trees down.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Ohio in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Ohio, November 2013
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: 477550, 477551, 477553, 477554, 477555, 477556, 477557, 477560, 477561, 477562, 477563, 477564.