Showers and thunderstorms developed ahead of an approaching cold front. The storms moved east across the area through the evening hours, producing damaging winds and large hail.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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 ILN wrote it up.
Showers and thunderstorms developed ahead of an approaching cold front. The storms moved east across the area through the evening hours, producing damaging winds and large hail.
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 Wilmington, OH wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 22, 7:03 PM EST, 1 hour 44 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Wilmington OH 703 PM EST Mon Jan 22 2018 .SYNOPSIS... A cold front will sweep through the Ohio Valley this evening bringing showers and a chance of thunder. Colder air will filter back into the region tonight and Tuesday. A chance of rain and snow showers will be observed Tuesday as an upper low tracks through the Great Lakes. High pressure will then bring dry conditions through the end of the week. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM TUESDAY MORNING/... Deep mid level low centered near Kansas City to lift nne into the mid MS VLY this evening. Associated sfc low will become vertically stacked with cold front pushing east across ILN/s FA this evening. Band of pre-frontal showers associated with axis of forcing from low level jet will continue to push east across the area this afternoon into the evening. Have timed this band of showers with a period of categorical pops. Convection starting to develop along the front over Illinois. Models solutions continue to show marginal boundary layer instability early this evening over the sw FA, so have continued a slight chance of thunder for a few hours. Dry slot to work into the area late this evening with wrap around pcpn associated with mid/upper level low moving into the northwest late. CAA will develop in the wake of the front with lows ranging from the upper 30s northwest to the lower 40s southeast. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT/... On Tuesday the closed mid/upper low will track east through the Great Lakes. Southwest to west winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 35 mph will usher colder air into the region Tuesday. Expect nearly steady temperatures in this CAA pattern. Lift from the low and steepening low level lapse rates will lead to scattered showers Tuesday into Tuesday night. Most areas will see rain initially then changing to snow from nw to se through the day into the evening. Little snow accumulation is expect prior to ending Tuesday night. Temperatures to drop to lows in the mid to upper 20s. && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... Behind the low pressure system exiting the area on Tuesday, the coldest air aloft will be moving through the area on Wednesday. This sets up Wednesday as the coolest day of the week, especially as surface winds will remain westerly -- neutrally-advecting at best. While the overall pattern will be gradually switching away from troughing and toward ridging, the 500mb flow will remain wavy, and there are expected to be one or two waves moving through the Ohio Valley and southern Great Lakes in the Wednesday-to-Thursday time frame. At the very least, this may lead to some periods of increased cloud cover (another factor to keep temperatures down on Wednesday) along with the possibility of some light precipitation. Based on the 06Z/12Z model runs there does not seem to be enough consistency in the placement of the forcing to add any PoPs to the forecast yet (a jet-induced stripe of weak ascent previously depicted for Wednesday has almost disappeared from the current runs). Broad surface high pressure will move east into the area from Wednesday night into Thursday, though it will be centered south of the ILN CWA. By Thursday morning, ridging over the Mississippi Valley will become more prominent, and increasing significantly by Thursday night into Friday. This will bring dry conditions and gradually warming temperatures through Thursday and Friday, remaining warm going into Saturday. In fact, the continual southerly flow will likely keep temperatures from falling much (if at all) on Friday night. Behind the departing surface high, and with troughing developing over the plains, moist flow from the Gulf is expected to move into the Ohio Valley again over the weekend. This very basic statement is about the only thing still in good agreement for the weekend forecast -- 00Z and 12Z operational GFS/ECMWF runs have eschewed consistency in favor of drifting further apart in their timing and amplitude depictions of the weather features through this period. In particular, it is the depth and speed of the upstream trough that seems to be a source of inconsistency regarding upcoming precipitation timing. The 12Z operational GFS is very fast and progressive with the trough, while the 12Z operational ECMWF is slower and stronger, with greater amplitude. This manifests in a roughly 24-hour difference in the timing of the greatest chances for precipitation. The 12Z GFS timing is a little more consistent with its own past runs, while the 12Z ECMWF timing is much slower than its 00Z cycle. However, it is definitely worth noting that several GFS ensemble members do not support the operational run, instead supporting the slower ECMWF solution. This all works to provide low confidence in how exactly the scenario will play out, though rain appears certain to occur at some point. Until timing gets into better agreement, PoPs will be capped at 50 percent. Conditions ahead of the trough will likely remain warmer than normal, but should cool down as an associated cold front moves through at some point in the period. Eventually, temperatures will probably end up close to the climatological normal by Monday, with drier conditions favored behind the front. && .AVIATION /00Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... Vigorous low pressure at the surface and aloft will push east into the Great Lakes tonight. An attendant cold front will move east across the terminals between 04Z and 06Z. Along and ahead of the front, showers, with the possibility of a thunderstorm, can be expected. Mainly MVFR conditions should occur with this activity. Behind the front, models continue to still advertise a period of VFR conditions. Then, CAA stratocumulus clouds will move in late along with ceilings dropping back into the MVFR category. Winds will pick up as well from the fairly strong CAA and tightening pressure gradient. An embedded disturbance rotating around the upper level low will bring a chance of showers late as well, with the highest chance expected toward the KDAY terminal. On Tuesday, upper level low will continue to rotate east/northeast across the eastern Great Lakes. Blustery conditions will continue with west/southwest winds gusting in the upper 20 to the lower 30 knots. Some scattered showers will continue in the CAA/shallow instability airmass. A little snow may mix in, especially near KDAY. Ceilings will remain MVFR. For Tuesday night, upper level low will move farther away across New England/southeast Canada. MVFR ceilings will linger, but winds will gradually diminish during the overnight hours. OUTLOOK...MVFR ceilings likely to linger into Wednesday. MVFR ceilings and visibilities possible Saturday. && .ILN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OH...None. KY...None. IN...None. && SYNOPSIS...AR NEAR TERM...AR SHORT TERM...AR LONG TERM...Hatzos AVIATION...Hickman
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Wilmington OH 735 PM EST Mon Jan 22 2018 INZ050-058-059-066-073>075-080-KYZ089>100-OHZ026-034-035-042>046- 051>056-060>065-070>074-077>082-088-231200- Wayne-Fayette IN-Union IN-Franklin IN-Ripley-Dearborn-Ohio- Switzerland-Carroll-Gallatin-Boone-Kenton-Campbell-Owen-Grant- Pendleton-Bracken-Robertson-Mason-Lewis-Hardin-Mercer-Auglaize-Darke- Shelby-Logan-Union OH-Delaware-Miami-Champaign-Clark-Madison- Franklin OH-Licking-Preble-Montgomery-Greene-Fayette OH-Pickaway- Fairfield-Butler-Warren-Clinton-Ross-Hocking-Hamilton-Clermont-Brown- Highland-Adams-Pike-Scioto- 735 PM EST Mon Jan 22 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for East Central Indiana, Southeast Indiana, Northeast Kentucky, Northern Kentucky, Central Ohio, South Central Ohio, Southwest Ohio and West Central Ohio. .DAY ONE...Tonight. The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .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.
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Wilmington OH
731 PM EST MON JAN 22 2018
INZ073>075-080-230100-
Switzerland IN-Ripley IN-Ohio IN-Dearborn IN-
731 PM EST MON JAN 22 2018
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT OHIO...SOUTHEASTERN RIPLEY...
DEARBORN AND NORTHWESTERN SWITZERLAND COUNTIES UNTIL 800 PM EST...
At 731 PM EST, radar indicated a strong thunderstorm 10 miles south
of Versailles, moving northeast at 50 mph.
STORM HAZARDS INCLUDE...
Winds to 40 mph...
Pea size hail...
Locations impacted include...
Lawrenceburg, Greendale, Aurora, Hidden Valley, Versailles, Milan,
Dillsboro, Moores Hill, Guilford, Wilmington, Pleasant, Manchester,
Sunman, Rexville, Cold Springs, Penntown, Avonburg, Farmers Retreat,
Friendship and Mount Sinai.
This includes I-74 in Indiana near mile marker 156.
To report hazardous weather conditions, go to our website at
weather.gov/iln and submit your report via social media, when you can
do so safely.
LAT...LON 3929 8509 3914 8482 3913 8482 3879 8520
3891 8520 3891 8537
TIME...MOT...LOC 0031Z 215DEG 43KT 3891 8526
KCSpecial Weather Statement
National Weather Service Wilmington OH
757 PM EST MON JAN 22 2018
INZ073>075-080-KYZ089-230130-
Switzerland IN-Ripley IN-Ohio IN-Dearborn IN-Carroll KY-
757 PM EST MON JAN 22 2018
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT OHIO...SOUTHEASTERN RIPLEY...
SOUTHWESTERN DEARBORN...WESTERN SWITZERLAND AND WESTERN CARROLL
COUNTIES UNTIL 830 PM EST...
At 757 PM EST, radar indicated a strong thunderstorm near Madison,
moving northeast at 50 mph.
STORM HAZARDS INCLUDE...
Winds to 40 mph...
One half inch diameter hail...
Locations impacted include...
Carrollton, Vevay, Pleasant, Fairview, Prestonville, Brooksburg,
Braytown, Center Square, Locust, Avonburg, Moorefield, Farmers
Retreat, Bear Branch, Friendship, East Enterprise, Cross Plains,
Allensville, Mount Sterling and Jacksonville.
To report hazardous weather conditions, go to our website at
weather.gov/iln and submit your report via social media, when you can
do so safely.
LAT...LON 3874 8526 3873 8524 3870 8522 3869 8520
3891 8520 3891 8524 3903 8516 3886 8497
3861 8522 3863 8523 3872 8533 3874 8533
TIME...MOT...LOC 0057Z 215DEG 42KT 3871 8531
KCSpecial Weather Statement
National Weather Service Wilmington OH
837 PM EST MON JAN 22 2018
OHZ042-051-060-061-230215-
Montgomery OH-Darke OH-Preble OH-Miami OH-
837 PM EST MON JAN 22 2018
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT SOUTHEASTERN PREBLE...
SOUTHEASTERN DARKE...NORTHWESTERN MONTGOMERY AND SOUTHWESTERN MIAMI
COUNTIES UNTIL 915 PM EST...
At 837 PM EST, radar indicated a strong thunderstorm near West
Alexandria, moving northeast at 55 mph.
STORM HAZARDS INCLUDE...
Winds to 40 mph...
Pea size hail...
Locations impacted include...
Dayton, Huber Heights, Trotwood, Vandalia, Englewood, West Milton,
West Alexandria, Gratis, Clayton, Union, Brookville, New Lebanon,
Farmersville, Shiloh, Phillipsburg, Verona, Laura, Potsdam, Ludlow
Falls and Fort Mckinley.
This includes the following Interstates...
I-70 in Ohio between mile markers 17 and 35.
I-75 in Ohio between mile markers 60 and 64.
To report hazardous weather conditions, go to our website at
weather.gov/iln and submit your report via social media, when you can
do so safely.
LAT...LON 4006 8441 3988 8415 3959 8447 3959 8448
3958 8448 3966 8459
TIME...MOT...LOC 0137Z 215DEG 49KT 3974 8447
KCThe Cincinnati radar (KILN), 56 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:44 UTC.
9 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
A couple of trees were downed in the Trotwood and Englewood areas.
A couple of trees were downed. One was along Troy-Frederick Road and another was along Kessler-Frederick Road.
Several trees were downed near the intersection of Pence Road and Baker Road.
A few trees were downed in the Miamisburg area.
A barn roof and an outbuilding were damaged.
Several trees were downed.
A roof was torn off of a barn and there was damage to some playground equipment. A tree was also uprooted.
A couple of trees were downed across northeast Licking County.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Ohio in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Ohio, January 2018
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: 727840, 727842, 727843, 727841, 727838, 727839, 727897, 727844, 727845, 727959, 727902.