EF1 tornado, El Dorado to Castine, Ohio, October 26, 2010

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.

Rating

EF1

Date

October 26, 2010

Touchdown

11:40 AM EDT (15:40 UTC)

Lifted

11:48 AM EDT (15:48 UTC)

On the ground

8 minutes

Path length

4.3 miles (7.0 km)

Path width

30 yards (27 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$77,000

Counties

Preble and Darke counties

Touchdown point

39.914, -84.689

Lift-off point

39.950, -84.622

Record number

1010260940-01

A historically deep low pressure system sent a very strong cold front into a marginally unstable, but very sheared environment. A line of storms formed west of the area overnight and moved into the region during the peak heating hours of the day. Severe wind gusts occurred along the entire line with multiple tornadoes occurring around the region as well.

The tornado touched down in Preble County at 1040 EST and continued into Darke County at 1041 EST before lifting at 1048 EST. The path width was 30 yards. The tornado traveled for 0.29 miles in Preble County and then 4.06 miles in Darke County. The damage was consistent with winds around 80 miles per hour in Preble County and 90 miles per hour in Darke County. The tornado was rated an EF0 in Preble County and an EF1 in Darke County. The tornado touched down initially in open farm land north of Eldorado-Whitewater Road. In this area, some farm fences were covered with corn debris. Minor tree damage was also found in this area. The tornado likely lifted for a brief time before touching down in Darke County west of Highway 726, destroying a barn. The tornado continued across Highway 726 where it hit a residence on Preble County-Butler-Township Road. At this location, outbuildings were destroyed and significant tree damage occurred. The tornado continued across farm fields until glancing another residence along Highway 722 where tree damage and minor outbuilding damage occurred. Several utility poles were also snapped in half. The tornado then continued northeast and hit a residence on Emrick Road where the most significant damage occurred. Windows were broken in the house, there was significant outbuilding damage, and several large and healthy trees were snapped off and uprooted. More damage was found to a residence on Otterbein-Ithaca Road near United States Highway 127. Here, a barn was partially collapsed and several trees were snapped. Roofing material was also removed from the house.

The tornado touched down in Preble County at 1040 EST and continued into Darke County at 1041 EST before lifting at 1048 EST. The path width was 30 yards. The tornado traveled for 0.29 miles in Preble County and then 4.06 miles in Darke County. The damage was consistent with winds around 80 miles per hour in Preble County and 90 miles per hour in Darke County. The tornado was rated an EF0 in Preble County and an EF1 in Darke County. The tornado touched down initially in open farm land north of Eldorado-Whitewater Road. In this area, some farm fences were covered with corn debris. Minor tree damage was also found in this area. The tornado likely lifted for a brief time before touching down in Darke County west of Highway 726, destroying a barn. The tornado continued across Highway 726 where it hit a residence on Preble County-Butler-Township Road. At this location, outbuildings were destroyed and significant tree damage occurred. The tornado continued across farm fields until glancing another residence along Highway 722 where tree damage and minor outbuilding damage occurred. Several utility poles were also snapped in half. The tornado then continued northeast and hit a residence on Emrick Road where the most significant damage occurred. Windows were broken in the house, there was significant outbuilding damage, and several large and healthy trees were snapped off and uprooted. More damage was found to a residence on Otterbein-Ithaca Road near United States Highway 127. Here, a barn was partially collapsed and several trees were snapped. Roofing material was also removed from the house.

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

21 minutes of warning. NWS ILN issued a tornado warning for this county at 15:19 UTC, 21 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 16:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 12:57 UTC and running to 16:29 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a High Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 12:45 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 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.

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 91 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 15:41 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.

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

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

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

60 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

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