A warm front lifted across northern Ohio on August 17th as an area of low pressure moved across the northern Great Lakes. A cluster of thunderstorms developed in advance of this front and moved across northern Ohio during the afternoon and early evening hours.
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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 warm front lifted across northern Ohio on August 17th as an area of low pressure moved across the northern Great Lakes. A cluster of thunderstorms developed in advance of this front and moved across northern Ohio during the afternoon and early evening hours. One of thunderstorms produced a tornado in Trumbull County. A second storm produced a funnel cloud nearby. Most of the tornado damage was from downed trees.
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 17, 3:02 PM EST, 22 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Cleveland OH 402 PM EDT Thu Aug 17 2017 .SYNOPSIS... Low pressure will track northeast across the Upper Great Lakes tonight with a cold front moving east across the area. The low will continue northeast into Canada with high pressure expanding up the Ohio Valley Friday night into early Saturday. A secondary upper trough will swing across the Great Lakes region on Saturday. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/... Vigorous convection has not been able to get established this afternoon along the line in northern Ohio. The convection has outpaced the better height falls to the west and convective debris cloud has outpaced the line and had a limiting effect on destabilization. We will continue to monitor for any stronger cells that develop as we head into peak heating, but the severe weather threat appears to be isolated in nature. Rain will continues to move northeast and most areas will see some showers with just scattered thunderstorms as this line continues to the east. Much drier air aloft spread in from the west overnight as the mid- level dryslot wraps around the trough. High dewpoints will make conditions feel humid overnight and some areas of stratus could develop as the high cloud clears out aloft. Patchy fog also possible but not expecting it to get too bad with southwest winds of 5 to 10 mph. Low pressure will continue to track northeast into Canada on Friday with breezy west southwest winds gusting to around 20 mph. Trimmed back any chance of rain on Friday to just a low chance in NW PA. Expecting partly to mostly cloudy skies as a healthy cu field develops with daytime heating. High pressure will expand up the Ohio Valley Friday night. Clouds will begin to increase late ahead of the next trough approaching from the west. && .SHORT TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... A trough is progged to move east across the cwa on Sat. Upper support looks good but surface moisture and focusing is weaker so will keep pops in chc category. A few leftover shra could still be in NW PA Sat night, otherwise high pressure spreads in from the west and should dominate thru Mon and keep conditions dry. Temps should start out near to a little below normal Sat then warm to be above normal by Mon. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... A fast moving upper level trough will push east across the eastern United States during the extended periods Monday night through Wednesday. This will cause a fast moving surface low pressure to race across the Great Lakes region during the same time period. Models are suggesting the low pressure system will begin to spread some moisture into the local area Monday night into Tuesday with a chance for showers and thunderstorms along the cold front. Once storm system moves east of the area, a large area of high pressure will begin to nose southeast toward the local area for the latter half of the forecast period. Warm air advection will take place in advance of the low pressure but after frontal passage, we should see some cold air advection. Possibility exists for some lake effect or better yet lake enhance rain showers after frontal passage across the northeast. Would not be surprised with cold air sliding south across the area that we see some waterspouts and cold air funnels during the latter half of the week. && .AVIATION /18Z Thursday THROUGH Tuesday/... A broken line of showers and thunderstorms moving into NW Ohio will continue to spread northeastward ahead of a low pressure system moving towards the upper Great Lakes. Tried to time a 2-3 hour window of thunderstorms into most terminals this afternoon. Conditions ahead of this line are mostly VFR. Thunderstorms will produce very heavy rainfall and brief IFR conditions if they pass over a terminal. Isolated wind gusts in excess of 40 knots are also possible if thunderstorms intensify. Otherwise southwest winds will be breezy with gusts up to 25 knots outside of thunderstorms through 23Z A cold front will move east across the area this evening with much drier air arriving behind it. Clouds expected to scatter out although some MVFR stratus will attempt to develop across NE Ohio overnight. A broken cu field of 2500-3500 feet will expand across all areas on Friday. Southwest to westerly winds will be breezy on Friday with gusts 25 knots. OUTLOOK...Areas of Non-VFR possible in showers Saturday. && .MARINE... The cold front moving across the lake tonight will gradually veer winds from SW to West thru Fri afternoon with speeds increasing to 15 to 25 knots eventually bringing 4 foot or better waves into the nearshore Fri aftn. Winds will slowly settle down into Sat night while wavering back and forth as a trough crosses the lake Sat. High pressure will tend to dominate Sun into Mon with winds eventually turning out of the SW by Tue and increasing to 10 to 20 knots ahead of the next cold front. && .CLE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OH...None. PA...None. MARINE...None. && SYNOPSIS...KEC NEAR TERM...KEC SHORT TERM...Adams LONG TERM...Lombardy AVIATION...KEC MARINE...Adams
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Cleveland OH 530 AM EDT Thu Aug 17 2017 LEZ142>145-162>165-OHZ003-006>010-017>019-027>030-036-037-047-180930- 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 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-Lucas-Wood- Ottawa-Sandusky-Erie-Lorain-Hancock-Seneca-Huron-Wyandot-Crawford- Richland-Ashland-Marion-Morrow-Knox- 530 AM EDT Thu Aug 17 2017 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for Lake Erie, north central Ohio and northwest Ohio. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight. There is a chance for severe thunderstorms across northwest Ohio into central Ohio this afternoon and evening. The main threat is for damaging winds but large hail is possible along with an isolated tornado. Locally heavy rain may occur. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday. No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation may be needed. LEZ061-146>149-166>169-OHZ011>014-020>023-031>033-038-089-PAZ001>003- 180930- Lake Erie open waters from Ripley to Buffalo NY- 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 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-Cuyahoga-Lake- Geauga-Ashtabula Inland-Medina-Summit-Portage-Trumbull-Wayne-Stark- Mahoning-Holmes-Ashtabula Lakeshore-Northern Erie-Southern Erie- Crawford- 530 AM EDT Thu Aug 17 2017 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for Lake Erie, northeast Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight. Thunderstorms this afternoon and evening could be strong to severe with damaging winds and locally heavy rainfall being the primary threat. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday. No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation may be needed.
The Cleveland radar (KCLE), 38 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:23 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, 1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm winds downed several large tree limbs and knocked over a large wooden swing set.
Thunderstorm winds downed a large tree.
A funnel cloud formed east of Warren from a thunderstorm moving northeast across Trumbull County. The funnel was observed for many minutes and passed a few miles north of the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport. A tornado eventually developed and touched down just northwest of the intersection of State Routes 193 and 305 near Fowler. A mobile home near that location was knocked off it's foundation and lost some metal sheeting. The tornado crossed State Route 193 and moved northeast across a wooded area. Over 100 trees were snapped or uprooted in the woods with a clear convergent pattern evident. Most of the trees were hardwood and wind speeds were estimated to be at least 90 mph. The tornado lifted before reaching Sodom Hutchings Road after being on the ground for just over a mile. The damage path was more than 100 yards in width some of time. The damage was intermittent for the first portion of the tornado track.
A weather observed at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport observed a funnel cloud for around 20 minutes. The funnel developed just east of the airport and moved east. No touchdown was observed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Ohio in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Ohio, 2017Warnings in Ohio, August 2017
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: 719035, 719037, 719038, 719039.