Tornadoes · United States · Ohio · 2013

EF0 tornado, Wapakoneta Arpt, Ohio, June 12, 2013

This EF0 tornado ran 2.3 miles across Auglaize County on June 12, 2013, touching down at 12:03 AM EDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $350,000 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 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.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
June 12, 2013
Touchdown
12:03 AM EDT (04:03 UTC)
Lifted
12:06 AM EDT (04:06 UTC)
On the ground
3 minutes
Path length
2.3 miles (3.7 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$350,000
County
Auglaize County
Touchdown point
40.498, -84.297
Lift-off point
40.491, -84.253
Record number
1306122203-03

What the Weather Service recorded

An organized line of convection moved across portions of central Indiana and Ohio during the late evening hours of June 12, lasting into the early morning hours of June 13. The main threats from these storms were damaging winds and isolated weak tornadoes.

The tornado touched down on the north side of State Route 219 east of New Knoxville. The tornado tracked east-southeast where minor damage was done to the north side of the administrative building at the Neil Armstrong Airport. A large amount of sheet metal and tree limbs were deposited on the runway. Further along the path, the tornado damaged six houses and three barns and uprooted trees. One barn was 80 percent destroyed. At the end of the tornado track, a double wide mobile home was picked up and tossed 100 feet to the north on its side. Based on the damage surveyed, the maximum wind speed from this tornado was estimated to be 75 miles per hour.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 21:02 UTC and running to 05:50 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
21:02 UTC05:50 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchILN
03:15 UTC04:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningILN
03:52 UTC04:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningILN
04:13 UTC04:35 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningILN
04:25 UTC04:38 UTCSevere Thunderstorm 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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:54 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), 00:00Z

4.1 hours before the tornado, 125 km from the path. June 13, 2013.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 2013-06-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2978 joules per kilogram, CIN -57, lifted condensation level 1256 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 2013-06-13The 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 160 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 40 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
2978 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-57 J/kg
Surface CAPE
3385 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1256 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
160 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
284 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.7
Supercell composite
11.6
0-3 km lapse rate
6.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

7.9 hours after it, 125 km from the path. June 13, 2013.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 2013-06-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 828 joules per kilogram, CIN -86, lifted condensation level 1110 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 2013-06-13The 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 144 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 47 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
828 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-86 J/kg
Surface CAPE
518 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1110 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
144 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
143 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
3.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 126 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:03 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
03:27 UTCTORNADOWillshireVan Wert, OHAN EF-0 TORNADO WITH WINDS UP TO 85 MPH WENT THROUGH THE SOUTHWEST SIDE OF WILLSHIRE AND DAMAGED 13 HOMES.
03:35 UTCTORNADO3 Nw RockfordMercer, OHBRIEF EF0 TOUCHDOWN CAUSED DAMAGE TO LARGE ALUMINUM BARNS WITH COLLATERAL IMPACT DAMAGE TO SURROUNDING STRUCTURES.
03:37 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Nw RockfordMercer, OHSIGNIFICANT WIND DAMAGE TO BARN AND ANOTHER NEARBY BUILDING
03:40 UTCWALL CLOUD3 N KalidaPutnam, OHWALL CLOUD WITH RAPIDLY RISING SCUD...TOO DARK TO SEE ROTATION
03:55 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Ne MendonMercer, OHA ROOF WAS BLOWN OFF OF A HOME...TREE BRANCHES WERE BLOWN ONTO ANOTHER ROOF...AND A RADIO ANTENNA WAS BLOWN DOWN DUE TO THUNDERSTORM WINDS. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR. PHOTO RELAYED VIA SOCIAL MEDIA.
03:57 UTCTSTM WND GST 605 Nw St. MarysAuglaize, OH
04:00 UTCWALL CLOUDElidaAllen, OHROTATING WALL CLOUD IN NW ALLEN COUNTY NEAR ELIDA
04:01 UTCTSTM WND GST 633 Sw St. MarysAuglaize, OH
04:01 UTCTSTM WND GST 42Columbus GrovePutnam, OH
04:03 UTCTORNADO1 E New KnoxvilleAuglaize, OHEF0 WITH 2.3 MILE PATH LENGTH. DAMAGE TO BUILDING AT NEIL ARMSTRONG AIRPORT, 6 HOUSES, 3 BARNS, NUMEROUS TREES. MOBILE HOME TOSSED 100 FEET.
04:05 UTCHAIL 0.25ElidaAllen, OH
04:07 UTCTSTM WND DMGWapakonetaAuglaize, OHNUMEROUS REPORTS OF TREES DOWN
04:10 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Wsw WapakonetaAuglaize, OHSEMI TRAILER BLOWN OVER WEST OF WAPAKONETA ON ROUTE 33.
04:10 UTCTSTM WND DMGFort LoramieShelby, OHPOWER POLES DOWN
04:10 UTCTSTM WND DMGSt. MarysAuglaize, OHPOWER POLES SNAPPED ON ROUTE 364.
04:10 UTCTSTM WND DMGWapakonetaAuglaize, OHSEMI TRAILOR OVERTURNED AT WALMART JUST WEST OF I-75 IN WAPAKONETA. TREES DOWN IN THE CITY OF WAPAKONETA.
04:11 UTCTSTM WND DMGBotkinsShelby, OHROOFS DAMAGED AND BARN WALL COLLAPSED DUE TO STRAIGHT LINE WINDS.
04:20 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 E New KnoxvilleAuglaize, OHBUILDING DESTROYED NEAR NEIL ARMSTRONG AIRPORT.
04:25 UTCTSTM WND DMGAlgerHardin, OHTREES DOWN
04:25 UTCTSTM WND DMGUniopolisAuglaize, OHBUILDING DESTROYED.
04:28 UTCTSTM WND DMGRoundheadHardin, OHTREES DOWN
04:33 UTCTSTM WND GST 501 Ssw KentonHardin, OH
04:35 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 N BradfordMiami, OHLARGE TREE LIMBS DOWN
04:37 UTCTSTM WND DMGKentonHardin, OHTREES AND POWER POLES DOWN
04:40 UTCTSTM WND DMGPort JeffersonShelby, OHLARGE TREE DOWN
04:40 UTCTSTM WND DMGSidneyShelby, OH4 INCH TREE LIMB DOWN
04:45 UTCTSTM WND GST 513 S BellefontaineLogan, OH
05:00 UTCTSTM WND DMGZanesfieldLogan, OHTREES AND POWER POLES BLOWN DOWN.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2013 tornado in OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 12, 2013

20 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 124:08 PM CDTEF3Wright, IA6.2200$500,000
June 124:19 PM CDTEF1Wright, IA5.0125$20,000
June 124:21 PM CDTEF0Wright, IA1.150
June 124:32 PM CDTEF1DeKalb, IL2.3100$20,000
June 124:32 PM CDTEF2Franklin, IA5.2300$300,000
June 124:46 PM CDTEF1Franklin, IA3.475$50,000
June 124:53 PM CDTEF0Franklin, IA1.3125
June 124:56 PM CDTEF0Franklin, IA1.150$10,000
June 126:50 PM CDTEF0Jo Daviess, IL0.520
June 126:53 PM CDTEF2Carroll, IL6.68801
June 127:50 PM CDTEF0Kankakee, IL0.250$35,000
June 1211:27 PM EDTEF0Van Wert, OH0.680
June 1211:35 PM EDTEF0Mercer, OH0.1100$40,000
June 1211:55 PM EDTEF0Henry, OH0.025
June 1211:59 PM EDTEF1Henry, OH0.450
June 1212:02 AM EDTEF1Henry, OH0.275
June 1212:03 AM EDTEF0Henry, OH0.115
June 1212:03 AM EDTEF0Henry, OH0.315
June 1212:25 AM EDTEF0Wood, OH0.950$100,000
June 121:15 AM EDTEF0Delaware, OH0.250$200,000

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.