Tornadoes · United States · Ohio · 2007

EF1 tornado, Lodi, Ohio, August 9, 2007

This EF1 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Medina County on August 9, 2007, touching down at 4:35 PM EDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $175,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

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

  1. EF065 to 85 mph

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

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

  3. EF2111 to 135 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. EF3136 to 165 mph

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

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

  6. EF5over 200 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
EF1
Date
August 9, 2007
Touchdown
4:35 PM EDT (20:35 UTC)
Lifted
4:40 PM EDT (20:40 UTC)
On the ground
5 minutes
Path length
1.0 miles (1.6 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$175,000
County
Medina County
Touchdown point
41.057, -82.035
Lift-off point
41.059, -82.020
Record number
0708091435-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A frontal boundary was oriented west to east across central Ohio. The surface frontal boundary, in combination with upper level atmospheric support, allowed for severe thunderstorms to develop across the region. Many of the thunderstorms that day were severe, and even a few tornadoes developed across northern Ohio.

A storm survey revealed that an EF1 tornado touched down on a farm about two miles north of Lodi, just north of U.S. Route 224. Three barns were destroyed by the tornado. As many as 100 dairy cows were trapped in a barn that collapsed and had to be rescued from the debris. Some of the animals were killed or had to be put down because the injuries were so severe. Dozens of trees were damaged along the damage path which was about a mile in length and no more than 50 yards in width.

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

The warnings

12 minutes of warning. NWS CLE issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:23 UTC, 12 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:15 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 20:08 UTC and running to 23:05 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
08:04 UTC09:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLE
09:02 UTC13:00 UTCFlood AdvisoryCLE
20:08 UTC23:05 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchCLE
20:23 UTC21:15 UTCTornado WarningCLE
21:19 UTC23:51 UTCFlood AdvisoryCLE

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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:56 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.

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), 12:00Z

8.6 hours before the tornado, 178 km from the path. August 9, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2007-08-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 685 joules per kilogram, CIN -50, lifted condensation level 717 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2007-08-09The 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 124 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 33 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
685 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-50 J/kg
Surface CAPE
355 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
717 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
124 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
218 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
3.6
0-3 km lapse rate
4.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), 00:00Z

3.4 hours after it, 178 km from the path. August 10, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 2007-08-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 178 joules per kilogram, CIN -54, lifted condensation level 722 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 2007-08-10The 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 111 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 23 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
178 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-54 J/kg
Surface CAPE
789 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
722 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
111 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
118 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4
0-3 km lapse rate
5.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Wooster (BJJ), 23 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
18:56 UTC77710° 0 kt1011.2
19:56 UTC8273110° 6 kt1009.1
20:41 UTC78.873.4320° 30 kt521013.5VCTS SQ
20:49 UTC73.466.2300° 26 kt521013.5+TSRA SQ
20:54 UTC71.666.2280° 16 kt361013.2+TSRA FG
20:56 UTC7167290° 11 kt361012.9+TSRA FG
21:07 UTC69.868330° 4 kt1011.9+TSRA BR
21:13 UTC69.86830° 6 kt1011.5TSRA BR
21:21 UTC69.86820° 7 kt1011.2-TSRA BR
21:56 UTC70670° 0 kt1011.2TSRA BR
22:03 UTC69.8680° 0 kt1011.2-RA BR
22:28 UTC69.868170° 3 kt1011.2-RA

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

The radar

The Cleveland radar (KCLE), 42 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:33 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
20:04 UTCTORNADOShelbyRichland, OHPOSSIBLE TORNADO DESTROYED BUILDING
20:05 UTCTSTM WND DMGNorwalkHuron, OHLARGE LIMB DOWN ON TOWNSEND AVENUE.
20:10 UTCTSTM WND DMGShelbyRichland, OHFACTORY ROOF BLOWN OFF. LARGE TREES DOWN.
20:12 UTCTSTM WND DMGShelbyRichland, OH20 FOOT BY 20 FOOT BRICK WALL BLOWN DOWN. A LOT OF ROOF DAMAGE.
20:12 UTCTORNADOOntarioRichland, OHPOSSIBLE TORNADO TOUCH DOWN
20:15 UTCTSTM WND DMGMedinaMedina, OHNEW AND OLD HIGH SCHOOLS HAD PORTIONS OF ROOF TORN OFF. PICNIC TABLES BLOWN ACROSS PROPERTY. SIDING TORN OFF.
20:20 UTCTSTM WND DMGMansfieldRichland, OHLARGE TREE DOWN ON A MOBILE HOME FROM HIGH WINDS. NO INJURIES.
20:20 UTCTSTM WND DMGNorwalkHuron, OHTREE DOWN ON DUBLIN ROAD.
20:40 UTCTSTM WND DMG10 Ne AshlandAshland, OHROOF OFF BLACK RIVER HIGH SCHOOL AND MANY TREES DOWN.
20:45 UTCTSTM WND DMGLodiMedina, OHSEVERAL DAMAGED BUILDINGS ON FRINGE OF TOWN. MANY TREES DOWN.
20:50 UTCTSTM WND DMGDoylestownWayne, OHNUMEROUS LIMBS DOWN.
20:53 UTCTSTM WND DMGRittmanWayne, OH2 TREES DOWN ON HOUSES
21:00 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 E Portage LakesSummit, OHTREES DOWN IN COVENTRY TOWNSHIP
21:05 UTCTORNADOMassillonStark, OHPOSSIBLE BRIEF TORNADO TOUCH DOWN
21:10 UTCTORNADOAkronSummit, OHPOSSIBLE TORNADO VISIBLE BY SPOTTER AT CORNER OF ARLINGTON ROAD AND INTERSTATE 77.
21:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGGreenSummit, OHNUMEROUS TREES DOWN IN NIMISCILA LAKE.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2007 tornado in OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of August 9, 2007

3 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 92:50 PM EDTEF0Allegheny, PA0.5200$100,000
August 94:06 PM EDTEF0Richland, OH0.820$150,000
August 94:28 PM EDTEF1Ashland, OH0.530$1.4 million

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.