Tornadoes · United States · Ohio · 2010

EF1 tornado, Buena Vista, Ohio, September 16, 2010

This EF1 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Hocking County on September 16, 2010, touching down at 6:09 PM EDT and reaching 150 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $16,000 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
September 16, 2010
Touchdown
6:09 PM EDT (22:09 UTC)
Lifted
6:10 PM EDT (22:10 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
1.0 miles (1.6 km)
Path width
150 yards (137 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$16,000
County
Hocking County
Touchdown point
39.540, -82.693
Lift-off point
39.540, -82.675
Record number
1009161609-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A strong shortwave trough arrived during peak heating out ahead of a the cold front in a location that had received a couple hours of sunshine. A scattered to broken line of storms developed in an area of strong deep shear, which allowed for a high degree of organization with the storms.

The roof of a pole barn was lifted and carried away due to a tornado. Some roof remnants were found over a quarter of a mile away from the original structure. Two walls of the barn had also collapsed and a nearby dumpster was overturned. Additionally, significant tree damage occurred to large hardwood trees in the area. Minor roof damage occurred to a nearby home. Damage with this tornado was consistent with wind speeds around 90 miles per hour.

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

The warnings

10 minutes of warning. NWS ILN issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:59 UTC, 10 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:00 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 18:12 UTC and running to 23:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
18:12 UTC23:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchILN
21:37 UTC22:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningILN
21:59 UTC23:00 UTCTornado WarningILN
22:23 UTC23:03 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, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:20 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.

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), 12:00Z

10.2 hours before the tornado, 97 km from the path. September 16, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 2010-09-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 463 joules per kilogram, CIN -68, lifted condensation level 862 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 2010-09-16The 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 213 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 29 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
463 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-68 J/kg
Surface CAPE
246 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
862 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
213 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
173 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
3.4
0-3 km lapse rate
5.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), 00:00Z

1.8 hours after it, 97 km from the path. September 17, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 2010-09-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -346, lifted condensation level 1650 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 2010-09-17The 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 59 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 35 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-346 J/kg
Surface CAPE
47 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1650 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
59 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
164 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Lancaster (LHQ), 24 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
20:53 UTC7565200° 15 kt201007.5
21:18 UTC73.464.4180° 15 kt221007.1VCTS
21:50 UTC75.266.2240° 13 kt221007.8TS
21:53 UTC7565240° 12 kt221007.8TS
22:32 UTC73.464.4280° 9 kt151008.8
22:53 UTC7563290° 12 kt151008.8
23:53 UTC6960320° 11 kt171010.8

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

The radar

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 99 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:07 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
20:40 UTCHAIL 1.755 N Grove CityFranklin, OH
20:56 UTCHAIL 1Grove CityFranklin, OH
21:35 UTCTORNADOWest RushvilleFairfield, OHA STORM SURVEY INDICATED AN EFO TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR WEST RUSHVILLE. TREE DAMAGE OCCURRED ALONG THE PATH OF THE TORNADO. ROOF AND SIDING DAMAGE ALSO OCCURRED ALONG THE PATH OF THE TORNADO.
21:55 UTCTORNADOTarltonFairfield, OHA STORM SURVEY INDICATED AN EF1 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN 2 MILES WEST OF TARLTON. SPOTTY DAMAGE CONTINUED EAST THROUGH TARLTON INTO NORTHWEST HOCKING COUNTY.
22:00 UTCTORNADO3 S SomersetPerry, OHCONFIRMED TORNADO BY NWS STORM SURVEY 3 MILES SOUTH OF SOMERSET IN PERRY COUNTY OHIO. MAGNITUDE EF2...110 TO 120 MPH.
22:00 UTCTORNADOSomersetPerry, OHTORNADO REPORTED AT SOMERSET AND JUNCTION CITY.
22:00 UTCTORNADOThe PlainsAthens, OHHIT TRAILER PARK AND OVERTURNED SEVERAL TRAILERS ON US 33
22:20 UTCTORNADOCrooksvillePerry, OHCONFIRMED TORNADO BY NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM NEAR CROOKSVILLE IN PERRY COUNTY OHIO...BETWEEN 610 PM AND 630 PM EDT...MAGNITUDE EF1.
22:39 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Sse HaydenvilleHocking, OHONE TREE DOWN ON MCDANIEL RD.
22:48 UTCHAIL 1NelsonvilleAthens, OH
22:54 UTCTORNADO4 S NelsonvilleAthens, OHCONFIRMED TORNADO 4 MILES SOUTH OF NELSONVILLE AROUND 654 PM EDT. 3 MILES LONG AND 300 YARDS WIDE. MAGNITUDE EF2.
22:54 UTCTORNADO5 S NelsonvilleAthens, OHON PERRY RIDGE ROAD.
23:00 UTCTORNADOThe PlainsAthens, OHHIT TRAILER PARK AND OVERTURNED SEVERAL TRAILERS ON US 33
23:15 UTCTORNADO4 Ene AthensAthens, OHAUTO TECH BUILDING IS GONE. DEBRIS EVERYWHERE.
23:40 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDAthensAthens, OH

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 September 16, 2010

14 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 164:38 PM EDTEF0Delaware, OH0.1100$3,000
September 165:26 PM EDTEF2Wayne, OH11.5150$35 million
September 165:33 PM EDTEF0Kings, NY2.175$8.5 million
September 165:42 PM EDTEF1Queens, NY4.010011$17 million
September 165:52 PM EDTEF0Fairfield, OH3.7150$10,000
September 165:56 PM EDTEF1Pickaway, OH2.9200$90,000
September 166:00 PM EDTEF1Holmes, OH3.175$500,000
September 166:00 PM EDTEF2Perry, OH7.08001$500,000
September 166:05 PM EDTEF1Ocean, NJ2.2250$25,000
September 166:20 PM EDTEF1Tuscarawas, OH5.0100$75,000
September 166:21 PM EDTEF1Perry, OH4.7300$310,000
September 166:54 PM EDTEF2Athens, OH3.33007$750,000
September 167:00 PM CDTEF3Meigs, OH to WV9.1500116$2.5 million
September 168:25 PM EDTEF1Wirt, WV0.7175$75,000

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.