Tornadoes · United States · Ohio · 2010

EF1 tornado, West Andover to Andover, Ohio, June 6, 2010

From West Andover to Andover, this EF1 tornado ran 4.5 miles across Ashtabula County on June 6, 2010, touching down at 6:01 AM EDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $500,000 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
June 6, 2010
Touchdown
6:01 AM EDT (10:01 UTC)
Lifted
6:06 AM EDT (10:06 UTC)
On the ground
5 minutes
Path length
4.5 miles (7.2 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$500,000
County
Ashtabula County
Touchdown point
41.591, -80.631
Lift-off point
41.609, -80.547
Record number
1006060401-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A stationary frontal system stretched across the lower Great Lakes on the morning of Saturday, June 5th. This resulted in a very warm and humid airmass over northern Ohio. Outflow boundaries from earlier storms interacted with the stationary front to initiate thunderstorm development during the afternoon hours across inland northern Ohio. One of the stronger thunderstorms produced tornadoes in Richland and Holmes Counties. There were also a few reports of straight line thunderstorm wind damage. A rapidly deepening area of low pressure moved quickly east across southern lower Michigan during the evening hours. This low eventually moved across Lake Erie during the early morning hours of the 6th. Showers and thunderstorms developed across northern Indiana during the evening hours. These storms intensified and moved east along the stationary front and into Northwest Ohio. A devastating EF4 tornado developed over Wood County a little before midnight. This tornado moved into Ottawa County before dissipating. Seven people were killed and dozens of homes destroyed by the tornado. A weaker tornado also moved across portions of Lucas County. A third round of storms developed during the early morning hours of the 6th ahead of a cold front trailing the low. These storms moved across northern Ohio and produced pockets of damage. An EF1 tornado occurred in Ashtabula County around daybreak. A total of five tornadoes occurred in northern Ohio on June 5th and 6th. These tornadoes killed seven people, injured dozens and destroyed or damaged over a 100 homes. A school and a public administration building were also leveled. Damage estimates easily topped $100 million.

An EF1 tornado touched down in eastern Ashtabula County. The initial touchdown occurred southwest of Andover near the intersection of Mann and Creek Roads. The tornado then traveled east northeast for approximately four and a half miles before lifting near the intersection of Pymatuning Lake Road and State Route 85. The tornado moved across the south side of Andover and then crossed Main Street just east of town. Significant tree damage was observed southwest of Andover. A barn in the area was heavily damaged. A warehouse on the southeast side of Andover was damaged and many trees in the area toppled. Several homes in the town sustained damage, mainly from lost roofing or siding. Many cars were also damaged from flying debris or downed limbs. Dozens of downed trees were also reported along the remainder of the damage path. Several boats were tossed into Pymatuning Reservoir just as the tornado lifted. The tornado may not have been in continuous contact with the ground the entire length of the damage path. The damage path was no more than 100 yards in width.

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

The warnings

37 minutes of warning. NWS CLE issued a tornado warning for this county at 09:24 UTC, 37 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 10:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 06:06 UTC and running to 13:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
06:06 UTC13:00 UTCTornado WatchCLE
08:30 UTC09:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLE
09:12 UTC10:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLE
09:24 UTC10:30 UTCTornado WarningCLE

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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 06:04 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), 00:00Z

10.0 hours before the tornado, 139 km from the path. June 6, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 2010-06-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 586 joules per kilogram, CIN -19, lifted condensation level 689 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 2010-06-06The 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 80 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 52 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
586 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-19 J/kg
Surface CAPE
898 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
689 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
80 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
90 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.4
0-3 km lapse rate
5.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), 12:00Z

2.0 hours after it, 139 km from the path. June 6, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2010-06-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1527 joules per kilogram, CIN -5, lifted condensation level 639 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 12:00Z on 2010-06-06The 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 373 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 56 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
1527 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1971 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
639 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
373 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
434 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
3.8
Supercell composite
15.8
0-3 km lapse rate
5.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Ashtabula (HZY), 22 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
08:53 UTC7268230° 17 kt28996.6RA BR
09:02 UTC71.669.8210° 16 kt25996.6RA BR
09:22 UTC71.666.2230° 14 kt25996.3VCTS -RA BR
09:29 UTC71.666.2250° 13 kt19996.6VCTS +RA BR
09:37 UTC69.866.2240° 10 kt995.9+RA BR
09:40 UTC69.866.2240° 12 kt995.9-RA BR
09:42 UTC69.866.2250° 11 kt995.9VCTS -RA BR
09:50 UTC69.866.2260° 11 kt19995.9VCTS
09:53 UTC7067250° 9 kt19995.9VCTS
10:03 UTC71.666.2270° 15 kt20996.3+RA BR
10:08 UTC71.666.2260° 18 kt24995.9+RA BR
10:10 UTC71.666.2260° 13 kt24995.9VCTS -RA BR
10:14 UTC71.668250° 12 kt24995.9VCTS -RA BR
10:31 UTC71.668270° 14 kt995.9
10:53 UTC7167280° 16 kt27996.6
11:49 UTC64.460.8280° 20 kt31998.6
11:53 UTC6561280° 21 kt31999

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

The radar

The Cleveland radar (KCLE), 108 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 10:01 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
10:00 UTCTSTM WND DMGAndoverAshtabula, OHNUMEROUS TREES DOWN. POSSIBLE TORNADO

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2010 tornado in OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 6, 2010

8 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 62:10 AM EDTEF0Erie, PA5.850$200,000
June 62:11 AM EDTEF2Monroe, MI13.080011$50 million
June 62:33 AM EDTEF1Monroe, MI5.2500$10 million
June 65:34 AM EDTEF0Union, OH3.4100$64,000
June 66:45 AM EDTEF0Crawford, PA0.520$30,000
June 67:05 AM EDTEF0Mercer, PA3.080$100,000
June 67:02 PM EDTEF0Delaware, IN0.125$3,000
June 68:31 PM MDTEF0Chase, NE2.020

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.