A low pressure system moved through the Mid Atlantic region, trailing a cold front south through the Ohio Valley. This cold front stalled out across central Ohio, prompting showers and thunderstorms to develop along its boundary.
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.
A low pressure system moved through the Mid Atlantic region, trailing a cold front south through the Ohio Valley. This cold front stalled out across central Ohio, prompting showers and thunderstorms to develop along its boundary. Some of these storms produced heavy rainfall that resulted in quick runoff and flooding.
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 Jul 17, 6:50 PM EST, 1 hour 50 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Wilmington OH 750 PM EDT Thu Jul 17 2025 .SYNOPSIS... Stalled frontal boundary draped across the upper Ohio Valley will result in episodic shower and thunderstorm activity today and through the weekend. While storms may be strong to severe at times, the repeated rounds of efficient rainfall will increase the potential for flooding, especially as we progress into the weekend. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH FRIDAY/... Coverage in showers and thunderstorms beginning to increase this afternoon with the help of diurnal heating. Cold frontal boundary is currently draped around the I-71 corridor, with majority of convection expected SE of this interstate. Moderate MLCAPE values of 1000-1500 J/kg have developed, but overall shear values remain marginal at best. This will result in mainly single cell or mult-cell clusters today, with damaging straight-line winds being the primary severe threat. However, DCAPE values appear to remain capped at ~700-900 J/kg, so the downburst environment isn't overly impressive. Thus, severe storm potential will be limited, but a handful of storms may still produce localized gusts of 40-50 mph. The primary concern with these storms will shift to flash flood potential. Synoptic/mesoscale environment remains conducive to flooding through this period, along with the next couple of days given the quasi-statoinary front, humid air mass, anomalous PWATs of 1.75"-2.00" and the signal for repeated rounds of thunderstorms. Locations that receive multiple rounds of storms will have their soils primed to shorten the amount of rainfall needed to cause flash flooding. Best flooding potential for this period will be through the late evening hours, although this threat still remains fairly isolated today. A bit of a lull in convective activity is expected during the middle of the night, but there is a signal in CAMs to show a complex of storms developing near the Tristate region early Friday morning. && .SHORT TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT/... Complex of storms expected near/south of the OH River Friday morning as the cold front sinks southward. Eventually, this boundary will stall near or just south of the river and remain there for majority of the daytime hours. This will result in a relative minimum in convective activity for our CWA. However, keep in mind that isolated showers/storms may still develop during the daytime hours, but coverage should be lower. Daytime highs trend a couple degrees cooler in the lower to middle 80s. The quasi-stationary boundary will begin to shift back northward as a warm front Friday night. This will bring renewed chances for shower and thunderstorm activity, especially near the Ohio River. Severe storms are not expected Friday night, but we will have to keep an eye on any training storms or efficient rainfall over hard hit areas. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... Extended period starts with pretty good ensemble agreement of high convective precip potential and PWs at 2.0+ Sigma anomalies/above the 99th percentile across much of the area, creating a more focused flood threat through the weekend. Where the uncertainties lie are where any MCS activity sets up/tracks, as this would affect latter convective system initiation and further prime ground conditions for additional rounds of convection. While Saturday begins with overall zonal flow, ridging across the southern plains sets the region up for NW flow and, combining with the high PWATs, sets up a ridge rider pattern with the potential for bouts of repeated heavy rain. Still fairly modest confidence in where this sets up. While potential for localized flooding and some areas of flash flooding exists area-wide, current thinking is the greatest risk will be especially across IN/Southern Ohio/Northern KY Saturday and Sunday. While Monday could bring a relative lull in convective activity with the convective focus further south of the Ohio River, still potential for at least scattered showers and storms especially across the southern forecast area. Beyond Monday, increasing convergence on a ridge building solution with 590+ H5 heights pushing into the forecast area, which could increase heat indices toward 100 in the Tue/Wed timeframe. && .AVIATION /00Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... Thunderstorm activity will be found tonight and much of Friday, but the location and timing are in a high state of uncertainty, even in the near term. Guidance is keying on some lower mvfr cigs in the morning everywhere, lingering into the afternoon north of CVG/LUK. Timed early/ongoing shra at CVG/LUK and expect that only a few rumbles of thunder will present itself in the primarily stratiform rain, which should see IFR cigs and vsbys on the MVFR/IFR cusp. Initial thoughts were that storms wouldn't reach DAY or ILN but this was primarily gleaned from models that aren't capturing the ongoing precip, but did lay out a line along a boundary located south of the I-70 corridor for the next few hours. Will maintain an eye on trends and could amend DAY/ILN to bring in this convection. If this is the result over the next few hours, it stands to reason that the w-e corridor could impact central OH and CMH/LCK before midnight. While models have been underperforming wrt both timing and placement, they agree on activity in the west early in the morning spreading east. CMH/LCK could get caught in this by late morning, but indications here were that a narrow block of time near 18Z would stand the better chances. Expect low MVFR to potentially IFR cigs through the day tomorrow, lifting in the afternoon. Confidence in this forecast is particularly low given the necessity to time shower/thunderstorm activity in an airmass ripe for development but having very localized sources of upward motion versus a nice s/w that could be timed a bit better. OUTLOOK...Thunderstorms are likely through Monday. && .ILN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OH...Flood Watch until midnight EDT tonight for OHZ073-074-077>082-088. KY...Flood Watch until midnight EDT tonight for KYZ089>100. IN...Flood Watch until midnight EDT tonight for INZ075-080. && SYNOPSIS...Clark NEAR TERM...Clark SHORT TERM...Clark LONG TERM...JDR AVIATION...Franks
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Wilmington OH 335 AM EDT Thu Jul 17 2025 INZ050-OHZ026-034-035-042>046-051-052-180745- Wayne-Hardin-Mercer-Auglaize-Darke-Shelby-Logan-Union-Delaware-Miami- Champaign- 335 AM EDT Thu Jul 17 2025 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for east central Indiana, central Ohio and west central Ohio. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. There is a low probability for widespread hazardous weather. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday. Several rounds of showers and storms are expected this weekend. These repeated episodes of heavy rain may lead to flash flooding. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time. INZ058-059-066-073-074-OHZ053>056-060>065-070>072-180745- Fayette-Union-Franklin-Ripley-Dearborn-Clark-Madison-Licking-Preble- Montgomery-Greene-Pickaway-Fairfield-Butler-Warren-Clinton- 335 AM EDT Thu Jul 17 2025 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for east central Indiana, southeast Indiana, central Ohio, southwest Ohio and west central Ohio. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. Isolated damaging thunderstorm winds will be possible this afternoon into the early evening hours. Localized flash flooding will be possible due to heavy rainfall. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday. Several rounds of showers and storms are expected through Sunday. These repeated episodes of heavy rain may lead to flash flooding. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time. INZ075-080-KYZ089>100-OHZ073-074-077>082-088-180745- Ohio-Switzerland-Carroll-Gallatin-Boone-Kenton-Campbell-Owen-Grant- Pendleton-Bracken-Robertson-Mason-Lewis-Ross-Hocking-Hamilton- Clermont-Brown-Highland-Adams-Pike-Scioto- 335 AM EDT Thu Jul 17 2025 ...FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FROM 2 PM EDT THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH THIS EVENING... This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for southeast Indiana, northeast Kentucky, northern Kentucky, central Ohio, south central Ohio and southwest Ohio. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. Please listen to NOAA Weather Radio or go to weather.gov on the Internet for more information about the following hazards. Flood Watch. Isolated damaging thunderstorm winds will be possible this afternoon into the evening hours. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday. Several rounds of showers and storms are expected through Sunday. These repeated episodes of heavy rain may lead to flash flooding. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time.
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Wilmington OH
525 PM EDT Thu Jul 17 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0309 PM Flood Augusta 38.77N 84.01W
07/17/2025 Bracken KY 911 Call Center
High water was reported on 2nd Street in
downtown Augusta near Main Street and
Elizabeth Street.
&&
HATZOSPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Wilmington OH
843 PM EDT Thu Jul 17 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0840 PM Flood 4 WNW Sunman 39.25N 85.17W
07/17/2025 Ripley IN Emergency Mngr
Flooded roadway near the intersection of
East County Road 1200 North and North County
Road 500 East.
&&
HATZOSThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Several inches of standing water was reported inside of the Buckeye Lake Fraternal Order of Eagles building, causing minor damage.
High water was reported over the intersection of State Route 37 and State Route 79 on the Licking / Fairfield County line.
High water was reported along North Bank Road NE, near Lakeside Road NE. Additionally, it was reported that a vehicle became disabled in high water along the 3400 block of Sellers Drive.
State Route 13 was reported to be closed due to high water just south of Interstate 70.
Several inches of standing water was reported at the Buckeye Lake Columbus East KOA Campground.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Ohio in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in Ohio, July 2025
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: 1270589, 1270583, 1270585, 1270586, 1270587.