A cold front crossed northern Ohio early on July 18th. Showers and thunderstorms developed in association with this front.
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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 cold front crossed northern Ohio early on July 18th. Showers and thunderstorms developed in association with this front. A few of the stronger storms became severe.
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 Jul 18, 2:01 AM EST, 1 hour 9 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Cleveland OH 301 AM EDT MON JUL 18 2016 .SYNOPSIS... A cold front will move southeast across the area this morning. Another cold front will move southeast across the area tonight. High pressure will build southeast across the region through mid week and then off the east coast by Wednesday night where it will become nearly stationary through Friday. A warm front will lift northeast across the area Wednesday night. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH 6 PM THIS EVENING/... A weak surface trough currently over the area will continue to move east. Some weak shower activity developed along the trough axis. Expecting these showers to remain relatively weak as they move east. Next batch of showers and thunderstorms continue to develop and evolve with time over extreme western Ohio, northern Indiana, and southern lower Michigan. Convection continues to move east toward the area ahead of the cold front. Tried to time the precipitation as it moves east with time. Anticipating the last of the showers to move southeast of the area toward evening as front slows in forward motion for a period of time this afternoon. QPF amounts will be highly dependent on where the heaviest thunderstorms occur. Temperatures will be a tough call today since we are starting out in the upper 70s. Once showers and thunderstorms push southeast and skies try to clear out...we could see temperatures climb back well into the 80s for highs. So, decided to bump up max temperatures a few degrees. && .SHORT TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/... Once cold front finally clears the area today, drier air and subsidence will begin to push south into the area with the influence of the surface high pressure. This will bring an end to the precipitation for a couple days as the high becomes the dominant weather feature across the area. The high will slowly move east to the east coast where it becomes nearly stationary by week's end. As this happens, a warm front will lift northeast across the area Wednesday night and lead a surge of very warm air back to the forecast area. A surge of moisture will stream southeast across the area Thursday into Thursday night and this feature will bring another chance for showers and thunderstorms to the forecast area. Activity should be waning by Thursday night so dropped the chance POPs down to slight chance. Otherwise, with a return back to warm air advection expected, will see temperatures climbing back into the upper 80s and lower 90s for highs and lows in the upper 60s to lower 70s. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... The upper ridge will build eastward late in the week but we may encounter thunderstorms that round the top of the ridge. Hard to say how much activity there might be given that the models tend to fill up with convective feedback but there would appear to be a chance Thursday into Friday. By later Friday and Saturday the temperatures aloft are progged to warm up. The ECMWF has +13C at 700 mb by Saturday which would likely cap us until there is enough upward motion to break the cap ahead of the cold front later Saturday. Will keep the probabilities for showers/storms low (20-30%) given the low confidence. The front may be pushing south of the area on Sunday but will keep a chance of showers/storms, mainly across the southern part of the forecast area, until we are more confident of the timing. One thing we can be confident of is that it will get hot again. High temperatures will reach the lower and middle 90s Friday and Saturday, then should start to drop back on Sunday. && .AVIATION /06Z Monday THROUGH Friday/... The cold front is coming relatively quickly and it looks like the best chance for showers and thunderstorms will be this morning. Not sure if the line of thunderstorms ahead of the front will be solid or scattered but will include a best estimate "tempo" forecast for thunderstorms at each TAF site early this morning. Will include gusty west winds with the thunderstorms. Drier air and subsidence should increase this afternoon. A secondary cold front will drop across the area tonight veering the wind northerly but likely not having any weather. Outlook...VFR conditions. && .MARINE... Brisk south winds on Lake Erie will veer southwest and eventually more westerly today. The strongest winds will work their way up the lake, from the western basin early this morning to the central and eastern basin this morning and afternoon. The larger waves will not come onshore until the wind becomes more westerly. The wind and waves may not persist long enough at any one location to require a small craft advisory today but the lake will be choppy this morning on the western basin and on the eastern basin this afternoon. A secondary cold front will shift the wind more northerly tonight and the north wind will stiffen for a while on the western basin and the choppiness will come back. the gradient will relax on Tuesday as high pressure builds across the eastern Great Lakes. The high will be east of the lakes by Wednesday and the flow will come around from the south. && .CLE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OH...None. PA...None. MARINE...None. && SYNOPSIS...Lombardy NEAR TERM...Lombardy SHORT TERM...Lombardy LONG TERM...Kosarik AVIATION...Kosarik MARINE...Kosarik
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 320 AM EDT MON JUL 18 2016 LEZ061-142>149-162>169-OHZ003-006>014-017>020-027-028-036-089-PAZ001- 002-190730- LAKE ERIE OPEN WATERS FROM RIPLEY TO BUFFALO NY- LAKE ERIE NEARSHORE WATERS FROM MAUMEE BAY TO RENO BEACH OH- LAKE ERIE NEARSHORE WATERS FROM RENO BEACH TO THE ISLANDS OH- LAKE ERIE NEARSHORE WATERS FROM THE ISLANDS TO VERMILION OH- LAKE ERIE NEARSHORE WATERS FROM VERMILION TO AVON POINT OH- LAKE ERIE NEARSHORE WATERS FROM AVON POINT TO WILLOWICK OH- LAKE ERIE NEARSHORE WATERS FROM WILLOWICK TO GENEVA-ON-THE LAKE OH- LAKE ERIE NEARSHORE WATERS FROM GENEVA-ON-THE-LAKE TO CONNEAUT OH- LAKE ERIE NEARSHORE WATERS FROM CONNEAUT OH TO RIPLEY NY- LAKE ERIE OPEN WATERS FROM MAUMEE BAY TO RENO BEACH OH- LAKE ERIE OPEN WATERS FROM RENO BEACH TO THE ISLANDS OH- LAKE ERIE OPEN WATERS FROM THE ISLANDS TO VERMILION OH- LAKE ERIE OPEN WATERS FROM VERMILION TO AVON POINT OH- LAKE ERIE OPEN WATERS FROM AVON POINT TO WILLOWICK OH- LAKE ERIE OPEN WATERS FROM WILLOWICK TO GENEVA-ON-THE-LAKE OH- LAKE ERIE OPEN WATERS FROM GENEVA-ON-THE-LAKE TO CONNEAUT OH- LAKE ERIE OPEN WATERS FROM CONNEAUT OH TO RIPLEY NY-LUCAS-WOOD- OTTAWA-SANDUSKY-ERIE-LORAIN-CUYAHOGA-LAKE-GEAUGA-ASHTABULA INLAND- HANCOCK-SENECA-HURON-MEDINA-WYANDOT-CRAWFORD-MARION- ASHTABULA LAKESHORE-NORTHERN ERIE-SOUTHERN ERIE- 320 AM EDT MON JUL 18 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR LAKE ERIE...NORTH CENTRAL OHIO...NORTHEAST OHIO...NORTHWEST OHIO AND NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS MORNING AND THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY THAT SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE WITH DAMAGING WINDS. THERE IS A MARGINAL RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE AREA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER...SPOTTERS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR SEVERE WEATHER AND REPORT ANY DAMAGE TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. OHZ021>023-029>033-037-038-047-PAZ003-190730- SUMMIT-PORTAGE-TRUMBULL-RICHLAND-ASHLAND-WAYNE-STARK-MAHONING-MORROW- HOLMES-KNOX-CRAWFORD- 320 AM EDT MON JUL 18 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL OHIO...NORTHEAST OHIO AND NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TODAY. THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE STRONG DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS...ESPECIALLY OVER NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED. LOMBARDY
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 353 AM EDT MON JUL 18 2016 OHZ003-006>008-017-018-027-181000- LUCAS-WOOD-OTTAWA-SANDUSKY-HANCOCK-SENECA-WYANDOT- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...TOLEDO...BOWLING GREEN...PORT CLINTON... FREMONT...FINDLAY...TIFFIN...UPPER SANDUSKY 353 AM EDT MON JUL 18 2016 ...STRONG STORMS MOVING EAST INTO THE AREA... A CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS THE AREA AND PRODUCE WIND GUSTS TO 45 MPH. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN AND CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING ARE LIKELY WITH THE THUNDERSTORMS AS WELL. PONDING OF WATER IS LIKELY ON ROADWAYS AND IN POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BE EAST OF THE AREA BY 5 AM THIS MORNING. LOMBARDY
The Detroit radar (KDTX), 117 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 08:08 UTC.
6 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm winds downed a few trees and large limbs in the city of Toledo. At least one home was struck by a falling tree.
Thunderstorm winds downed a tree.
Thunderstorm winds downed at least three trees and several large limbs.
Thunderstorm winds toppled a tree. The tree landed on a house.
Thunderstorm winds downed a large tree.
Thunderstorm winds downed a large tree.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Ohio in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Ohio, July 2016
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: 649784, 649790, 649787, 649785, 649795, 649797.