Tornadoes · United States · Ohio · 2014

EF0 tornado, Campground, Ohio, December 24, 2014

This EF0 tornado ran 0.6 miles across Fairfield County on December 24, 2014, touching down at 5:16 PM EST and reaching 30 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $15,000 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
December 24, 2014
Touchdown
5:16 PM EST (22:16 UTC)
Lifted
5:17 PM EST (22:17 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.6 miles (1.0 km)
Path width
30 yards (27 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$15,000
County
Fairfield County
Touchdown point
39.728, -82.634
Lift-off point
39.733, -82.624
Record number
1412241616-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A deepening low pressure system moved north and dragged a strong cold front across the region. A line of convection developed along the advancing cold front.

The tornado first caused damage to a travel trailer located to the southwest of the River Valley Mall off of Fair Avenue. It then damaged some trees in the vicinity of the Hocking River. A pickup truck was flipped on its top in the River Valley Mall parking lot. In addition, 20 to 25 cars had their windows blown out in the vicinity of the River Valley Mall along with some trees and lights poles which were broken off. The last damage was some minor roof damage to an adjacent storage building.

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 21:25 UTC and running to 22:55 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:00 UTC01:56 UTCWind AdvisoryILN
21:23 UTC22:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningILN
21:25 UTC22:55 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchILN
21:39 UTC22:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningILN
22:00 UTC22:45 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 21:34 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

10.3 hours before the tornado, 106 km from the path. December 24, 2014.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 2014-12-24Temperature 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 -75585, lifted condensation level 889 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 2014-12-24The 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 163 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 57 knots.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
-75585 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
889 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
163 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
190 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

1.7 hours after it, 106 km from the path. December 25, 2014.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 2014-12-25Temperature 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 0, lifted condensation level 500 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 2014-12-25The 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 -210 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 124 knots.1939587897117136156175194Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Surface CAPE
30 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
500 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
124 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-210 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-221 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Lancaster (LHQ), 4 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
20:53 UTC5954140° 8 kt994.2
21:53 UTC6054160° 10 kt992.9
22:16 UTC5752260° 18 kt37995.3+RA
22:24 UTC5347240° 19 kt27995.6-RA
22:53 UTC5247250° 18 kt26995.9-RA
23:42 UTC4742260° 18 kt32998-RA
23:53 UTC4641250° 20 kt31999
00:00 UTC4641260° 21 kt30998.3-RA
00:15 UTC4540260° 22 kt321000

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

The radar

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 108 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:17 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
21:43 UTCTSTM WND DMGSse HarrisburgPickaway, OHNUMEROUS 8 TO 10 INCH DIAMETER TREES DOWN IN HARRISBURG. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
21:52 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Wsw Downtown ColumbusFranklin, OHLARGE LIMB DAMAGED CAR NEAR WARREN AVE AND SULLIVANT AVE. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
22:06 UTCTSTM WND DMGLaurelvilleHocking, OHA COUPLE TREES DOWN. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
22:08 UTCTSTM WND DMGPickeringtonFairfield, OH5 POWER POLES DOWN IN THE PICKERINGTON AREA. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
22:09 UTCTSTM WND DMGReynoldsburgFranklin, OHSEVERAL TREES AND POWER POLES DOWN IN THE REYNOLDSBURG AREA.
22:15 UTCNON-TSTM WND DMG11 Nw HamdenVinton, OHTREE DOWN ALONG OLD ROUTE 50.
22:16 UTCTORNADO 02 Wnw LancasterFairfield, OH20 TO 25 CARS WITH WINDOWS BLOWN OUT. PICKUP TRUCK FLIPPED. STORAGE BUILDING DAMAGED NEAR RIVER VALLEY MALL.TREES AND LIGHT POLES SNAPPED. TRAVEL TRAILER DAMAGED.
22:17 UTCTSTM WND DMGLancasterFairfield, OH20 TO 25 CARS/STORAGE BUILDING DAMAGED NEAR RIVER VALLEY MALL
22:26 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Ese JohnstownLicking, OHROOF DAMAGE TO A HOME. FEW TREES DOWN. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
22:27 UTCTORNADO 02 Wnw LancasterFairfield, OH20 TO 25 CARS WITH WINDOWS BLOWN OUT. PICKUP TRUCK FLIPPED. STORAGE BUILDING DAMAGED NEAR RIVER VALLEY MALL.TREES AND LIGHT POLES SNAPPED. TRAVEL TRAILER DAMAGED.
22:45 UTCNON-TSTM WND GST 50ChaunceyAthens, OHESTIMATED WINDS 40-50 MPH AND +RA FOR ABOUT 5 MINUTES

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2014 tornado in OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of December 24, 2014

2 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 2410:30 AM ESTEF1New Hanover, NC0.2251$60,000
December 2412:50 PM ESTEF1Pierce, GA5.7100

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.