Tornadoes · United States · Ohio · 1992

F1 tornado, Auglaize County, Ohio, July 12, 1992

This F1 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Auglaize County on July 12, 1992, touching down at 8:15 PM EDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody and injured 1, and did $50,000 to $500,000 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
July 12, 1992
Touchdown
8:15 PM EDT (00:15 UTC)
Path length
0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
1
Property damage
$50,000 to $500,000
County
Auglaize County
Touchdown point
40.570, -84.200
Record number
773

The warnings

47 minutes of warning. NWS ILN issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:28 UTC, 47 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:30 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
23:28 UTC00:30 UTCTornado WarningILN
00:28 UTC01:30 UTCTornado WarningILN

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 06:08 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Dayton/James M C, OH (KDAY), 00:00Z

0.3 hours before the tornado, 75 km from the path. July 13, 1992.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Dayton/James M C, OH at 00:00Z on 1992-07-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1710 joules per kilogram, CIN -2, lifted condensation level 1068 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Dayton/James M C, OH at 00:00Z on 1992-07-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 165 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 37 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1710 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2423 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1068 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
165 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
323 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.4
Supercell composite
9.7
0-3 km lapse rate
6.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Dayton/James M C, OH (KDAY), 12:00Z

11.7 hours after it, 75 km from the path. July 13, 1992.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Dayton/James M C, OH at 12:00Z on 1992-07-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 795 joules per kilogram, CIN -27, lifted condensation level 657 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Dayton/James M C, OH at 12:00Z on 1992-07-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 144 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 46 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
795 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-27 J/kg
Surface CAPE
107 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
657 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
144 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
121 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
3.5
0-3 km lapse rate
4.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Findlay (FDY), 67 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
22:37 UTC200° 14 kt211006.4TS
23:00 UTC8170.88200° 14 kt241006.4-TSRA
23:40 UTC240° 12 kt191007.1DZ
00:00 UTC7870.88240° 17 kt251007.5-RA
00:15 UTC250° 13 kt191008.5RA
00:25 UTC240° 13 kt191008.5-RA
01:00 UTC72.8669230° 9 kt181007.8
01:11 UTC210° 9 kt151007.8TS
02:00 UTC8167210° 10 kt1011.2-SHRA DZ

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 1992 tornado in OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of July 12, 1992

38 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 1211:15 AM EDTF2Pinellas, FL4.5606$500,000 to $5 million
July 121:40 PM EDTF0Manatee, FL0.110$500 to $5,000
July 123:50 PM EDTF2Fulton, OH2.01508$500,000 to $5 million
July 121:55 PM MDTF0Big Horn, WY0.110
July 124:25 PM EDTF2Wood, OH7.02001$500,000 to $5 million
July 124:30 PM EDTF0Pasquotank, NC0.220$500 to $5,000
July 124:45 PM EDTF2Wood, OH0.11505$50,000 to $500,000
July 124:45 PM EDTF2Wood, OH0.11005$5,000 to $50,000
July 125:05 PM EDTF1Henry, OH3.0731$5,000 to $50,000
July 125:15 PM EDTF2Ottawa, OH10.0150$500,000 to $5 million
July 125:28 PM EDTF0Ottawa, OH0.120
July 125:30 PM EDTF1Sandusky, OH11.01003$50,000 to $500,000
July 125:55 PM EDTF1Van Wert, OH0.140$50,000 to $500,000
July 126:20 PM EDTF2Mercer, OH3.073$50,000 to $500,000
July 126:30 PM EDTF2Erie, OH2.0400$500,000 to $5 million
July 126:30 PM EDTF1Mercer, OH0.173$50,000 to $500,000
July 125:43 PM ESTF1Adams, IN5.030$50,000 to $500,000
July 127:30 PM EDTF0Columbiana, OH6.040$500 to $5,000
July 126:30 PM CDTF0Cloud, KS0.523$500 to $5,000
July 127:35 PM EDTF1Auglaize, OH5.0733$500,000 to $5 million
July 128:05 PM EDTF1Lorain, OH2.0200$500,000 to $5 million
July 128:29 PM EDTF1Warren, OH0.1200$50,000 to $500,000
July 128:35 PM EDTF2Chautauqua, NY4.023$500,000 to $5 million
July 128:42 PM EDTF0Cuyahoga, OH1.0100$50,000 to $500,000
July 128:45 PM EDTF0Hardin, OH0.140
July 128:50 PM EDTF2Lorain, OH2.02003$500,000 to $5 million
July 128:50 PM EDTF0Lorain, OH1.8702$500,000 to $5 million
July 129:00 PM EDTF2Huron, OH0.5100$5,000 to $50,000
July 129:00 PM EDTF3Medina, OH7.03004$500,000 to $5 million
July 129:10 PM EDTF1Erie, NY0.520$50 to $500
July 129:20 PM EDTF1Geauga, OH1.073$5,000 to $50,000
July 129:22 PM EDTF3Summit, OH8.0100$500,000 to $5 million
July 127:30 PM MDTF0Lincoln, CO0.110$500 to $5,000
July 129:30 PM EDTF0Medina, OH5.0150$50,000 to $500,000
July 1210:20 PM EDTF2Portage, OH1.0100$50,000 to $500,000
July 1210:42 PM EDTF1Portage, OH0.173$5,000 to $50,000
July 1211:01 PM EDTF1Morrow, OH0.173$5,000 to $50,000
July 1211:45 PM EDTF0Lawrence, PA0.3100$50 to $500

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.