Tornadoes · United States · Ohio · 2014
EF0 tornado, Mutual, Ohio, July 27, 2014
This EF0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Champaign County on July 27, 2014, touching down at 3:29 PM EDT and reaching 50 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.
EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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
- July 27, 2014
- Touchdown
- 3:29 PM EDT (19:29 UTC)
- Lifted
- 3:30 PM EDT (19:30 UTC)
- On the ground
- 1 minutes
- Path length
- 0.1 miles (0.1 km)
- Path width
- 50 yards (46 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $15,000
- County
- Champaign County
- Touchdown point
- 40.124, -83.613
- Lift-off point
- 40.123, -83.612
- Record number
- 1407271329-01
What the Weather Service recorded
Thunderstorms developed during the afternoon and evening hours ahead of an approaching cold front. Some of the storms produced damaging winds, large hail and isolated tornadoes.
The tornado touched down along U.S. Route 36, approximately two tenths of a mile northeast of the intersection with Yocom Road. Damage was primarily confined to the properties of two adjacent residences on the south side of U.S. Route 36. The most substantial damage occurred to a double wide manufactured home that lost half of its roof from the northwest side of the structure. The shingles and rafters were lifted over the home...and deposited immediately to the south. A 20 foot tall apple tree located 60 feet southwest of the home was uprooted and fell to the southeast. Numerous smaller limbs, mostly less than 3 inches in diameter, were broken from a willow tree located approximately 100 feet southeast of the home. These limbs were strewn to the east for approximately 175 feet into a neighboring yard.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
23 minutes of warning. NWS ILN issued a tornado warning for this county at 19:06 UTC, 23 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 19:30 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 17:49 UTC and running to 23:49 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03:00 UTC | 03:33 UTC | Flash Flood Watch | ILN |
| 17:22 UTC | 18:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILN |
| 17:49 UTC | 23:49 UTC | Tornado Watch | ILN |
| 19:06 UTC | 19:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | ILN |
| 19:30 UTC | 19:43 UTC | Tornado Warning | ILN |
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 16:20 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
7.5 hours before the tornado, 79 km from the path. July 27, 2014.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 426 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -183 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 416 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 973 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 41 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 17 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 82 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 83 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 3.8 K/km
Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), 00:00Z
4.5 hours after it, 79 km from the path. July 28, 2014.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1775 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -17 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 2443 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 779 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 58 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 29 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 114 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 145 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.4
- Supercell composite
- 5.8
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.7 K/km
The surface observations
Marysville (MRT), 25 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17:33 UTC | 74.48 | 65.48 | 260° 10 kt | 1008.8 | ||
| 17:54 UTC | 74.48 | 65.12 | 360° 8 kt | 1009.1 | ||
| 18:13 UTC | 67.82 | 61.16 | 80° 7 kt | 1008.8 | ||
| 18:34 UTC | 66.56 | 61.7 | 120° 5 kt | 1008.1 | ||
| 18:53 UTC | 66.2 | 61.88 | 130° 4 kt | 1007.5 | ||
| 19:13 UTC | 65.84 | 61.7 | 120° 4 kt | 1007.1 | ||
| 19:33 UTC | 65.66 | 61.88 | 20° 7 kt | 1007.5 | ||
| 19:53 UTC | 64.76 | 61.7 | 120° 3 kt | 1007.1 | ||
| 20:14 UTC | 65.48 | 62.78 | 0° 0 kt | 1006.8 | ||
| 20:33 UTC | 66.38 | 64.4 | 0° 0 kt | 1006.1 | ||
| 20:54 UTC | 69.62 | 67.46 | 240° 3 kt | 1005.8 | ||
| 21:13 UTC | 71.78 | 68.36 | 230° 5 kt | 1005.4 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 80 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:28 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16:55 UTC | HAIL 1 | 3 Nw Richwood | Union, OH | LARGE HAIL AND TREE LIMBS DOWN NEAR 739 NORTHWEST OF RICHWOOD. |
| 17:18 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 Nnw Richwood | Union, OH | A FEW TREES DOWN IN PRICE CEMETERY. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 17:18 UTC | TSTM WND GST 36 | Kedj Bellefontaine Apt | Logan, OH | |
| 17:25 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Ese Richwood | Union, OH | LARGE TREE DOWN AT STATE ROUTE 4 AND HOSKINS RD. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 17:25 UTC | TSTM WND GST 44 | Kedj Bellefontaine Apt | Logan, OH | |
| 17:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Radnor | Delaware, OH | CAR SHELTER BLOWN AWAY...BROKEN WINDOWS IN RV...SEVERAL 6-9 INCH LIMBS DOWN |
| 17:33 UTC | HAIL 1.5 | Zanesfield | Logan, OH | TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 17:43 UTC | TSTM WND GST 44 | Ki12 Sidney Apt | Shelby, OH | |
| 17:43 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | East Liberty | Logan, OH | |
| 19:00 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | 4 Sw West Liberty | Champaign, OH | |
| 19:20 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 1.74 | De Graff | Logan, OH | FELL IN PREVIOUS HOUR |
| 19:26 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 Nw Mechanicsburg | Champaign, OH | PART OF ROOF INCLUDING TRUSSES LIFTED OFF HOME ON US 36 AND SEVERAL APPLE TREES UPROOTED. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 19:26 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 4 Nw Mechanicsburg | Champaign, OH | ROOF DAMAGE TO A RESIDENCE...LARGE TREE UPROOTED...AND SEVERAL BRANCHES DOWN IN THE AREA. |
| 19:29 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 Nw Mechanicsburg | Champaign, OH | PART OF ROOF INCLUDING TRUSSES LIFTED OFF HOME ON US 36 AND SEVERAL APPLE TREES UPROOTED. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 19:29 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 4 Nw Mechanicsburg | Champaign, OH | ROOF DAMAGE TO A RESIDENCE...LARGE TREE UPROOTED...AND SEVERAL BRANCHES DOWN IN THE AREA. |
| 19:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Ne Chuckery | Union, OH | A BARN ROOF WAS PARTIALLY REMOVED...LEADING TO PARTIAL COLLAPSE |
| 20:05 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 1.5 | 2 Se Dublin | Franklin, OH | HIGH WATER CAUSED BY HEAVY RAIN HAS COVERED SR-257 AT DALE DRIVE |
| 20:27 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 1.5 | Dublin | Franklin, OH | FELL IN PAST HOUR |
| 21:01 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 1.46 | 5 Wnw Gahanna | Franklin, OH | RAINFALL TOTAL SO FAR TODAY |
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 July 27, 2014
11 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 27 | 12:50 PM EDT | EF0 | South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT | 0.7 | 100 | $25,000 | ||
| July 27 | 4:24 PM EDT | EF1 | Leslie, KY | 2.0 | 900 | |||
| July 27 | 4:55 PM EDT | EF1 | Berkshire, MA | 0.3 | 20 | |||
| July 27 | 5:05 PM EDT | EF0 | Cumberland, ME | 0.6 | 10 | |||
| July 27 | 5:45 PM EDT | EF1 | Sullivan, TN | 0.5 | 50 | |||
| July 27 | 5:47 PM EDT | EF0 | Washington, TN | 7.1 | 300 | |||
| July 27 | 5:58 PM EDT | EF3 | Campbell, TN | 4.7 | 800 | |||
| July 27 | 7:14 PM EDT | EF1 | Pleasants, WV | 4.1 | 200 | $20,000 | ||
| July 27 | 7:05 PM CDT | EF0 | Winnebago, WI | 0.0 | 10 | |||
| July 27 | 8:39 PM EDT | EF0 | Highland, OH | 2.5 | 1,300 | $80,000 | ||
| July 27 | 8:50 PM EDT | EF1 | Harrison, WV | 1.1 | 50 | $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.