EF2 tornado, Lime City to Momeneetown, Ohio, November 17, 2013

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 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 mphthis tornado

   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

EF2

Date

November 17, 2013

Touchdown

5:35 PM EST (22:35 UTC)

Lifted

5:55 PM EST (22:55 UTC)

On the ground

20 minutes

Path length

11.3 miles (18.1 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$2.6 million

Counties

Lucas and Wood counties

Touchdown point

41.539, -83.568

Lift-off point

41.659, -83.421

Record number

1311171635-01

13 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS CLE, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 120 mph.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

A strong cold front moved across northern Ohio during the evening hours of November 17th. A line of strong to severe thunderstorms developed in advance of this front causing significant damage in some areas. At least three tornadoes touched down in Wood County. The strongest of the three, an EF2, crossed into Lucas County. A fourth tornado occurred in Ottawa County. All of the tornadoes downed trees and damaged homes and buildings. Strong non thunderstorm winds also occurred behind the cold front through the evening hours.

An EF0 tornado touched down near Lime City Road just to the north of U.S. Route 20 in Perrysburg. The tornado continued east northeast reaching EF2 intensity as it neared the intersection of State Route 795 and Oregon Road. Two warehouse buildings had walls blown down and lost large sections of roofing. A gas station at the intersection of State Route 795 and Oregon Road was heavily damaged. Several vehicles at the gas station were damaged. Other businesses in the immediate vicinity also sustained roof damage. After causing extensive damage to a couple homes in a residential neighborhood just north of State Route 795, the tornado weakened to EF0 intensity. It then remained on the ground as either an EF0 or EF1 tornado for another four and half miles before moving into Lucas County near Northwood. It damaged several more homes and some apartment buildings before entering Lucas County. Most of this damage was from lost roofing and siding. Dozens of trees were downed along the damage path which was just over seven miles long and up to a 100 yards in width in Wood County. Many vehicles including a couple of recreational vehicles were damaged by the strong winds or flying debris.

A EF0 tornado crossed into Lucas County from Wood County just to the west of Interstate 280 in Northwood. The tornado continued to the northeast and intensified to EF1 intensity as it moved across the Pearson Metropark. It tore the roof off of a house and damaged another home in this area. The tornado briefly intensified to EF2 as it neared Seaman Street in Oregon. The tornado made a left turn at that time and finally lifted as it crossed Corduroy Road north of Oregon. The tornado damaged many homes in Oregon. Most of the damage was from lost roofing or siding but at least two homes were damaged enough to be considered destroyed. The tornado was on the ground for over four miles in Lucas County. The damage path was up to a 100 yards in width. Dozens of trees were downed along the damage path and many vehicles were damaged by the strong winds or flying debris.

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

16 minutes of warning. NWS CLE issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:19 UTC, 16 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 21:26 UTC and running to 00:19 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 Moderate 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 20:02 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 Detroit radar (KDTX), 122 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:34 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 2013 tornado in OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are

75 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 76 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.