Tornadoes · United States · Ohio · 2004

F1 tornado, New Bavaria, Ohio, June 13, 2004

This F1 tornado ran 4.0 miles across Henry County on June 13, 2004, touching down at 6:28 PM EDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $70,000 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
June 13, 2004
Touchdown
6:28 PM EDT (22:28 UTC)
Path length
4.0 miles (6.4 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$70,000
County
Henry County
Touchdown point
41.150, -84.170
Lift-off point
41.180, -84.100
Record number
248

What the Weather Service recorded

NWS storm survey showed a tornado touched down 3 miles south of New Bavaria and traveled close to 4 miles lifting 3 and one half miles east southeast of New Bavaria. The storm was around 50 yards wide and produced F0 to F1 damage along its path destroying 2 barns and damaging several houses. Trees and power poles as well as some smaller structures were also damaged.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The warnings

0 minutes of warning. NWS IWX issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:28 UTC, 0 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:15 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
22:12 UTC23:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWX
22:28 UTC23:15 UTCTornado WarningIWX

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, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:58 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.

Detroit, MI (KDTX), 12:00Z

10.5 hours before the tornado, 182 km from the path. June 13, 2004.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Detroit, MI at 12:00Z on 2004-06-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 37 joules per kilogram, CIN -135, lifted condensation level 673 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Detroit, MI at 12:00Z on 2004-06-13The 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 33 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 41 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
37 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-135 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
673 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
42 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Detroit, MI (KDTX), 00:00Z

1.5 hours after it, 182 km from the path. June 14, 2004.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Detroit, MI at 00:00Z on 2004-06-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1133 joules per kilogram, CIN -2, lifted condensation level 852 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Detroit, MI at 00:00Z on 2004-06-14The 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 127 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 36 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
1133 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2010 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
852 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
127 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
167 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
4.8
0-3 km lapse rate
6.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Defiance (DFI), 31 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
20:37 UTC80.669.8200° 8 kt1010.5VCTS
20:53 UTC8170160° 7 kt1009.5VCTS
21:15 UTC78.871.6200° 12 kt1009.8+TSRA
21:19 UTC75.269.8200° 21 kt251010.2+TSRA

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

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
20:54 UTCTSTM WND DMGAntwerpPaulding, OHNUMEROUS TREES DOWN.
20:54 UTCHAIL 0.75AntwerpPaulding, OH
21:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGDefianceDefiance, OHNUMEROUS TREES DOWN.
21:57 UTCTSTM WND DMGAntwerpPaulding, OHNUMEROUS TREES AND POWERLINES DOWN OVER NORTHERN HALF OF THE COUNTY.
22:15 UTCTSTM WND DMGDefianceDefiance, OHNUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN. POWER OUT IN DEFIANCE CITY WIDE.
22:15 UTCFLASH FLOODNeyDefiance, OHCOUNTY ROAD WASHED OUT. NUMEROUS COUNTY ROADS CLOSED.
22:25 UTCTSTM WND DMGNew BavariaHenry, OHNUMEROUS TREES DOWN.
22:44 UTCHAIL 0.75Miller CityPutnam, OH
22:56 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Wnw ContinentalPutnam, OHBARN DAMAGED.
22:57 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Wnw ContinentalPutnam, OHNUMEROUS TREES DOWN.
23:32 UTCTSTM WND DMGLimaAllen, OHPOWERLINES REPORTED DOWN.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2004 tornado in OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 13, 2004

12 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 132:05 PM EDTF0Montcalm, MI0.110$2,000
June 132:47 PM CDTF1Benton, TN0.110
June 133:50 PM EDTF0Bay, MI3.0100$10,000
June 136:00 PM EDTF1Huron, MI2.0200$30,000
June 135:08 PM CDTF0Lancaster, NE0.2100
June 135:08 PM CDTF0Lancaster, NE2.0240
June 135:28 PM CDTF0Cass, NE0.2150
June 135:30 PM CDTF0Cass, NE1.0150
June 136:30 PM EDTF1Montmorency, MI7.250$160,000
June 135:40 PM CDTF0Cass, NE1.0200
June 137:49 PM CDTF0Nodaway, MO0.550
June 1312:15 AM EDTF1Licking, OH2.075$10,000

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.