A low pressure system traversed the Great Lakes Region on the night of June 17th, then continued across southern Ontario into southern Quebec on the 18th. This system lifted a warm front north through the area during the early morning hours of the 18th, then pulled a cold front southeast into the area during the day.
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 RLX wrote it up.
A low pressure system traversed the Great Lakes Region on the night of June 17th, then continued across southern Ontario into southern Quebec on the 18th. This system lifted a warm front north through the area during the early morning hours of the 18th, then pulled a cold front southeast into the area during the day. Meanwhile, a strong shortwave trough helped steer a strong jet over portions of the middle Ohio Valley and central Appalachians.
Rain started to spread across southeast Ohio and over into western and north central West Virginia the evening of the 17th. Severe thunderstorms and heavy downpours then tracked across this same area overnight before sinking southeast the morning of the 18th. While the bulk of precipitation departed southeast Ohio and northern West Virginia by mid morning, the lingering front combined with a feed of moisture from a Gulf system allowed showers and a few storms to persist across Northeast Kentucky, southern West Virginia, and southwest Virginia through the 18th. Precipitation finally came to an end on the morning of the 19th.
The heaviest rainfall occurred in Vinton and Athens counties, where three to five inches of rain resulted in flash flooding and impacted local roads and stranded several vehicles. Flooding continued in Athens through mid afternoon on the 18th while portions of Vinton County continued to experience flooding into the morning of the 19th. One to three inches of rain fell across parts of Washington, Jackson, and Meigs Counties while the rest of southeast Ohio generally received an inch or less. Severe thunderstorms also produced damaging winds that downed trees and powerlines across southeast Ohio during the morning of the 18th.
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 Charleston, WV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 18, 1:46 AM EST, 38 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Charleston WV 246 AM EDT Thu Jun 18 2026 .WHAT HAS CHANGED... No major changes to the forecast at this time. && .KEY MESSAGES... 1) Potential for strong to severe storms this morning through the afternoon along with a threat for excessive rainfall as a cold front moves through the area. 2) Drier start to the weekend but storm chances return by Sunday evening. && .DISCUSSION... KEY MESSAGE 1... A Tornado Watch is out for northeast Kentucky counties of Cater and Greenup until 5am. This is due to robust helicity, abundant shear and a the STP tornado parameter of 1+ which indicates possible tornadic environment not too mention tornadic activity upstream. Activity is already upstream and headed our way for the first push of convection into the area although the threat is weakening, therefore the watch is not being expanded anywhere. This watch may have to be expanded if trends persist west into our Ohio counties but the last tornado warning out west has expired therefore currently holding off on expanding at this time. Hi-res and convection allowing models (CAMs) have another push of convection in the form of a line settling in by mid morning. The HRRR, FV3 and NAM Nest are most aggressive and suggest potential super cellular activity with embedded thunderstorms along a line progressing southeast into our area moving south throughout the late morning and into the afternoon. With enough instability for the late morning and afternoon storms will be able to continue under a strong low level jet support and high shear to promote a damaging wind threat as well as tornadic threat with rotating showers possible along the line or from super cellular storms. Even though prior convection will weaken instability the line will have enough support to keep going through the area, however it may not be as potent as other models suggest. The winds will be a thing to watch as shower and thunderstorm activity will have a good environment with high DCAPE and high PWATs to promote downbursts and heavy downpours which could promote flooding potential, however it should be more isolated in nature and be more apparent across low lying or flood prone areas unless training occurs elsewhere. One caveat is that the line will be moving fast with strong steering flow aloft which may deter flash flooding all together this late morning and afternoon. Unless rates exceed flash flood guidance or rather 2+ inches per hour or high rates affect an area repeatedly or under training will possibly cause issues to the aforementioned areas and elsewhere. Shower activity could bring down strong winds which could be damaging and severe but this will involve convection rather than synoptic winds which made the decision of holding off on a wind advisory being issued at this time. By mid morning, the tornado threat diminishes and only a damaging wind threat will remain, however we cannot rule out a quick spin up along the line as the cold front sags south into the southern portions of our county warning area. Due to our radar being down it will be hard to detect low level rotation therefore shower activity or heavy thunderstorm activity will likely be warned on if there is any indication of rotation or a meso even though the tornadic environment will be diminishing. As the line exits toward the south another push of convection is indicated by some of the Hi-res models coming in from the west to affect our southern half of the area. This will add to QPF values but the activity will be across our driest portions of our CWA, so basically no flood watch is needed and will be handled by the warning process. WPC does have us in a slight risk for a excessive rainfall threat for this area so isolated flooding issues could occur in areas susceptible to flood or drainage issues. This activity will be coming in behind the front, therefore much of the instability will be used up so the environment should not pose a severe threat. After the aforementioned convection subsides things will clear out and any activity will exit by early afternoon opening the area up to a dry rest of the day on Friday and into the weekend. KEY MESSAGE 2... High pressure at the surface and a semi flat ridge aloft will help keep the weekend settled although by late Sunday a low pressure system will traverse into the region just north of us and drop down a weak frontal band for Monday. Models have this feature weakening as it comes through the area so frontolysis is likely. Thereafter, zonal flow will settle in and keep the area safe until Thursday as a short wave moves into the region which could promote chances for diurnal convection on next Thursday afternoon and evening. && .AVIATION /06Z THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... As the cold front pushes further toward the area rain and thunderstorms will become more prevalent and drop CIGs down to MVFR toward late morning. VIS restrictions will accompany shower activity and under heavy thunderstorm activity VIS could drop to IFR at times. Winds will increase out of the southwest gusting to 30kt by late morning. Gusty conditons will prevail until the early evening as the cold front sags south of the area. By evening, winds will diminish and CIGs will lift to VFR except for EKN/BKW who will endure MVFR CIGs into the evening and overnight. Clouds may clear out around a few western sites to promote fog formation overnight into Friday morning. If clouds clear out quicker fog could potentially affect the other sites in mid to late morning. FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND ALTERNATE SCENARIOS THROUGH 06Z FRIDAY... FORECAST CONFIDENCE: Medium. ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: Timing of shower and thunderstorm activity could vary. Fog overnight into Friday morning could become areawide dependent upon how fast the clouds move out. EXPERIMENTAL TABLE OF FLIGHT CATEGORY OBJECTIVELY SHOWS CONSISTENCY OF WFO FORECAST TO AVAILABLE MODEL INFORMATION: H = HIGH: TAF CONSISTENT WITH ALL MODELS OR ALL BUT ONE MODEL. M = MEDIUM: TAF HAS VARYING LEVEL OF CONSISTENCY WITH MODELS. L = LOW: TAF INCONSISTENT WITH ALL MODELS OR ALL BUT ONE MODEL. DATE THU 06/18/26 UTC 1HRLY 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 EDT 1HRLY 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 CRW CONSISTENCY H H H H H H L H H H H M HTS CONSISTENCY H H H H H M M M M H H M BKW CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H M M M H H EKN CONSISTENCY H H H H H H M H M H M M PKB CONSISTENCY H H M M H M H M M H H H CKB CONSISTENCY H H H H M H M M H M H H AFTER 06Z FRIDAY... IFR ceilings may be possible with lingering showers along the mountains Thursday night. IFR fog is possible overnight into Friday morning. && .Equipment... The RLX radar is down until further notice. && .RLX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WV...None. OH...None. KY...None. VA...None. && DISCUSSION...JZ AVIATION...JZ EQUIPMENT...JZ
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Charleston WV
229 AM EDT Thu Jun 18 2026
OHZ083-084-180700-
Jackson OH-Vinton OH-
229 AM EDT Thu Jun 18 2026
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL IMPACT NORTHERN JACKSON AND WESTERN
VINTON COUNTIES THROUGH 300 AM EDT...
At 229 AM EDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near
Waverly, moving east at 45 mph.
HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 40 mph.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects.
Locations impacted include...
Jackson, Wellston, Mcarthur, Hamden, Coalton, Allensville, Eagle
Mills, and Byer.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.
Torrential rainfall is also occurring with this storm and may lead to
localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded
roadways.
This storm may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio
stations and available television stations for additional information
and possible warnings from the National Weather Service.
&&
LAT...LON 3917 8279 3917 8277 3937 8275 3936 8264
3937 8263 3937 8253 3903 8239 3902 8280
TIME...MOT...LOC 0629Z 258DEG 37KT 3919 8296
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.00 IN
MAX WIND GUST...40 MPH
01Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Charleston WV
253 AM EDT Thu Jun 18 2026
OHZ075-083>085-180730-
Jackson OH-Athens OH-Meigs OH-Vinton OH-
253 AM EDT Thu Jun 18 2026
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL IMPACT NORTHWESTERN MEIGS...NORTHERN
JACKSON...VINTON AND SOUTHWESTERN ATHENS COUNTIES THROUGH 330 AM
EDT...
At 253 AM EDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near
Mcarthur, moving east at 55 mph.
HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 50 mph.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects.
Locations impacted include...
Athens, Jackson, Wellston, Mcarthur, Albany, Lake Hope State Park,
Nelsonville, Chauncey, Hamden, Coalton, Zaleski, Creola, Eagle Mills,
Radcliffe, Dyesville, Darwin, Allensville, Harrisonville, Byer, and
Carpenter.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.
Torrential rainfall is also occurring with this storm and may lead to
localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded
roadways.
This storm may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio
stations and available television stations for additional information
and possible warnings from the National Weather Service.
Persons in campgrounds should consider seeking sturdy shelter until
this storm passes.
&&
LAT...LON 3917 8279 3917 8277 3937 8275 3936 8264
3937 8263 3937 8252 3940 8251 3939 8229
3943 8229 3946 8202 3912 8200 3904 8280
TIME...MOT...LOC 0653Z 258DEG 49KT 3928 8254
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.00 IN
MAX WIND GUST...50 MPH
01The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 thunderstorm wind, 4 flash flood, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
A downed tree was observed on U.S. Route 50 at Dow Lake.
State Route 690 was closed due to flooding and State Route 681 was closed due to flooding beyond Hebbardsville Road. Several areas of flooding were observed in Athens with vehicles stuck in flood waters.
Kessinger School Road was closed due to downed powerlines.
A swath of concentrated power outages occurred from tree damage.
High water was observed across a few roads in the area, with some culverts washed out. A couple of vehicles were stranded in high water near McArthur.
Upwards of 500 residents were without power due to several areas of tree damage.
Numerous areas of power outages occurred due to storm damage.
Downed trees were observed in and near Ironton.
Scattered trees fell down around the county. The most widespread damage occurred in the Oak Hill community where some trees fell on houses and approximately 1000 customers were without power.
Multiple trees were blown down across the northern end of the county, and in Pedro and Willow Wood.
Flash flooding was observed on Route 683 in Clinton Township.
State Route 349 was closed due to flash flooding near Lake Alma Road.
High water was observed across several roads in northeast Vinton County, including State Route 677.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Ohio in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Ohio, June 2026
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: 1335880, 1335901, 1335881, 1335882, 1335904, 1335884, 1335885, 1335886, 1335887, 1335888, 1335907, 1335908, 1335913.