Lake Erie, 2017

Waterspout in Lake Erie, August 5, 2017

August 5, 2017 · NWS CLE · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Several waterspouts were reported on Lake Erie.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS CLE wrote it up.

Several waterspouts were reported on Lake Erie.

What forecasters said that day

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 Aug 4, 6:48 PM EST, 23 hours 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 4, 6:48 PM EST, 23 hours 7 minutes before
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The radar

The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 151 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:54 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 waterspout. Local standard time, as filed.

Waterspout, Avon Point to Willowick Oh

When
August 5, 5:55 PM EST
Where
Avon Point to Willowick Oh forecast zone, 74.64 mi ENE of Willowick
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
42.174, -80.254

At least four waterspouts were observed on Lake Erie offshore from the Walnut Creek Access.

What these are

Waterspout
A tornado over water. One that moves ashore is filed as a tornado from the coastline on.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Lake Erie in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather history

Sources

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: 718928.