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.

  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
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)ExpiredProductOffice
03:00 UTC03:33 UTCFlash Flood WatchILN
17:22 UTC18:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningILN
17:49 UTC23:49 UTCTornado WatchILN
19:06 UTC19:30 UTCTornado WarningILN
19:30 UTC19:43 UTCTornado 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 0.05 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 2014-07-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 426 joules per kilogram, CIN -183, lifted condensation level 973 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 2014-07-27The 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 82 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 41 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

4.5 hours after it, 79 km from the path. July 28, 2014.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 2014-07-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1775 joules per kilogram, CIN -17, lifted condensation level 779 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 2014-07-28The 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 114 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 58 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Marysville (MRT), 25 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
17:33 UTC74.4865.48260° 10 kt1008.8
17:54 UTC74.4865.12360° 8 kt1009.1
18:13 UTC67.8261.1680° 7 kt1008.8
18:34 UTC66.5661.7120° 5 kt1008.1
18:53 UTC66.261.88130° 4 kt1007.5
19:13 UTC65.8461.7120° 4 kt1007.1
19:33 UTC65.6661.8820° 7 kt1007.5
19:53 UTC64.7661.7120° 3 kt1007.1
20:14 UTC65.4862.780° 0 kt1006.8
20:33 UTC66.3864.40° 0 kt1006.1
20:54 UTC69.6267.46240° 3 kt1005.8
21:13 UTC71.7868.36230° 5 kt1005.4

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)ReportWhereCountyRemark
16:55 UTCHAIL 13 Nw RichwoodUnion, OHLARGE HAIL AND TREE LIMBS DOWN NEAR 739 NORTHWEST OF RICHWOOD.
17:18 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Nnw RichwoodUnion, OHA FEW TREES DOWN IN PRICE CEMETERY. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
17:18 UTCTSTM WND GST 36Kedj Bellefontaine AptLogan, OH
17:25 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Ese RichwoodUnion, OHLARGE TREE DOWN AT STATE ROUTE 4 AND HOSKINS RD. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
17:25 UTCTSTM WND GST 44Kedj Bellefontaine AptLogan, OH
17:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGRadnorDelaware, OHCAR SHELTER BLOWN AWAY...BROKEN WINDOWS IN RV...SEVERAL 6-9 INCH LIMBS DOWN
17:33 UTCHAIL 1.5ZanesfieldLogan, OHTIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
17:43 UTCTSTM WND GST 44Ki12 Sidney AptShelby, OH
17:43 UTCHAIL 0.75East LibertyLogan, OH
19:00 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD4 Sw West LibertyChampaign, OH
19:20 UTCHEAVY RAIN 1.74De GraffLogan, OHFELL IN PREVIOUS HOUR
19:26 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Nw MechanicsburgChampaign, OHPART OF ROOF INCLUDING TRUSSES LIFTED OFF HOME ON US 36 AND SEVERAL APPLE TREES UPROOTED. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
19:26 UTCTORNADO 04 Nw MechanicsburgChampaign, OHROOF DAMAGE TO A RESIDENCE...LARGE TREE UPROOTED...AND SEVERAL BRANCHES DOWN IN THE AREA.
19:29 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Nw MechanicsburgChampaign, OHPART OF ROOF INCLUDING TRUSSES LIFTED OFF HOME ON US 36 AND SEVERAL APPLE TREES UPROOTED. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
19:29 UTCTORNADO 04 Nw MechanicsburgChampaign, OHROOF DAMAGE TO A RESIDENCE...LARGE TREE UPROOTED...AND SEVERAL BRANCHES DOWN IN THE AREA.
19:40 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Ne ChuckeryUnion, OHA BARN ROOF WAS PARTIALLY REMOVED...LEADING TO PARTIAL COLLAPSE
20:05 UTCHEAVY RAIN 1.52 Se DublinFranklin, OHHIGH WATER CAUSED BY HEAVY RAIN HAS COVERED SR-257 AT DALE DRIVE
20:27 UTCHEAVY RAIN 1.5DublinFranklin, OHFELL IN PAST HOUR
21:01 UTCHEAVY RAIN 1.465 Wnw GahannaFranklin, OHRAINFALL 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.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 2712:50 PM EDTEF0South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT0.7100$25,000
July 274:24 PM EDTEF1Leslie, KY2.0900
July 274:55 PM EDTEF1Berkshire, MA0.320
July 275:05 PM EDTEF0Cumberland, ME0.610
July 275:45 PM EDTEF1Sullivan, TN0.550
July 275:47 PM EDTEF0Washington, TN7.1300
July 275:58 PM EDTEF3Campbell, TN4.7800
July 277:14 PM EDTEF1Pleasants, WV4.1200$20,000
July 277:05 PM CDTEF0Winnebago, WI0.010
July 278:39 PM EDTEF0Highland, OH2.51,300$80,000
July 278:50 PM EDTEF1Harrison, WV1.150$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.