Tornadoes · United States · Ohio · 1980

F1 tornado, Hamilton County, Ohio, June 2, 1980

This F1 tornado ran 6.2 miles across Hamilton County on June 2, 1980, touching down at 5:05 PM EDT and reaching 70 yards wide. It killed nobody and injured 15, and did $5 million to $50 million of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mphthis tornado

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

The record

Rating
F1
Date
June 2, 1980
Touchdown
5:05 PM EDT (21:05 UTC)
Path length
6.2 miles (10.0 km)
Path width
70 yards (64 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
15
Property damage
$5 million to $50 million
County
Hamilton County
Touchdown point
39.230, -84.470
Lift-off point
39.180, -84.370
Record number
416

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 1980 tornado in OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 2, 1980

15 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 24:30 AM CDTF2Thayer, NE2.0300$5,000 to $50,000
June 27:30 AM CDTF2Wayne, IA4.780$50,000 to $500,000
June 28:00 AM CDTF1Appanoose, IA2.0303$500,000 to $5 million
June 28:05 AM CDTF2Appanoose, IA19.8805$500,000 to $5 million
June 21:00 PM ESTF2Fountain, IN0.110$5 million to $50 million
June 21:00 PM ESTF3Montgomery, IN18.110116$500,000 to $5 million
June 22:00 PM ESTF2Marion, IN0.1106
June 22:30 PM ESTF2Hancock, IN0.1104
June 23:00 PM ESTF0Rush, IN0.1101
June 24:25 PM CDTF4Decatur, IA31.2140$500,000 to $5 million
June 26:20 PM CDTF1Dubuque, IA3.650$50,000 to $500,000
June 26:30 PM ESTF1Kosciusko, IN0.1101$5,000 to $50,000
June 27:30 PM EDTF1Jackson, OH11.5150$500,000 to $5 million
June 27:00 PM ESTF1Adams, IN0.1103$50,000 to $500,000
June 21:35 AM EDTF1Washtenaw, MI0.110$500 to $5,000

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.