EF0 tornado, Otway to Sargents, Ohio, March 2, 2012

1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

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

2. EF186 to 110 mph

   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

EF0

Date

March 2, 2012

Touchdown

5:46 PM EST (22:46 UTC)

Lifted

5:50 PM EST (22:50 UTC)

On the ground

4 minutes

Path length

4.1 miles (6.7 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$35,000

Counties

Pike and Scioto counties

Touchdown point

38.958, -83.207

Lift-off point

38.982, -83.136

Record number

1203021646-01

Thunderstorms developed during the afternoon in a high wind shear environment ahead of a strengthening low pressure system. Many of these storms became severe, with large hail, damaging thunderstorm winds, and tornadoes all being the main threats.

The tornado touched down along Rocky Fork Road, about 2 miles southwest of Otway. The tornado snapped and uprooted numerous trees in groves as it moved northeast along Rocky Fork Road and Highway 348. The tornado then lifted just as it hit the town of Otway, where it damaged two homes and heavily damaged a fire station. Based on the damage surveyed, the maximum estimated wind speed of this tornado was 75 miles per hour.

The tornado touched down near Highway 772 and Left Fork Road in extreme northwest Scioto County at 1746 EST, and traveled almost .2 miles before crossing into Pike County at 1747 EST. The path width of the tornado while in Scioto County was around 100 yards. The tornado progressed east northeast along and to the north of Camp Creek Road for nearly 4 miles in Pike County, before lifting at 1750 EST. While on the ground in Pike County, the path width of the tornado expanded to around 200 yards. Damage along the path of the tornado was primarily to trees, with numerous trees snapped and uprooted. A mobile home on Camp Creek Road was damaged with portions of the roof removed, causing an exterior wall to collapse. The resident of that home reported seeing a tornado on the ground approaching the home. Due to heavily forested terrain in this area, the path length and width are approximated as best as possible from accessible roads. Based on the damage surveyed, the maximum estimated wind speed of this tornado was 80 miles per hour in both Scioto and Pike Counties.

The tornado touched down near Highway 772 and Left Fork Road in extreme northwest Scioto County at 1746 EST, and traveled almost .2 miles before crossing into Pike County at 1747 EST. The path width of the tornado while in Scioto County was around 100 yards. The tornado progressed east northeast along and to the north of Camp Creek Road for nearly 4 miles in Pike County, before lifting at 1750 EST. While on the ground in Pike County, the path width of the tornado expanded to around 200 yards. Damage along the path of the tornado was primarily to trees, with numerous trees snapped and uprooted. A mobile home on Camp Creek Road was damaged with portions of the roof removed, causing an exterior wall to collapse. The resident of that home reported seeing a tornado on the ground approaching the home. Due to heavily forested terrain in this area, the path length and width are approximated as best as possible from accessible roads. Based on the damage surveyed, the maximum estimated wind speed of this tornado was 80 miles per hour in both Scioto and Pike Counties.

The tornado touched down on the south side of Wynn Road and then followed the road. The tornado eventually crossed the road and lifted near Highway 104 southwest of Piketon. The damage from this tornado consisted of numerous large trees snapped off, uprooted, and lying in a convergent pattern toward the center of the most enhanced core of tree damage. One large tree landed on a mobile home, causing heavy structural damage. An eyewitness observed the tornado which corroborates the damage path. Based on the damage surveyed, the maximum estimated wind speed of this tornado was 75 miles per hour.

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

14 minutes of warning. NWS ILN issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:32 UTC, 14 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:05 UTC and running to 23:58 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 0.30 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. 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 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.

Wilmington (ILN), 75 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 75 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:46 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 2012 tornado in OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are

69 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 70 of them

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.