EF0 tornado, Sardinia, Ohio, August 17, 2016

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.

Rating

EF0

Date

August 17, 2016

Touchdown

11:16 AM EDT (15:16 UTC)

Lifted

11:19 AM EDT (15:19 UTC)

On the ground

3 minutes

Path length

1.0 miles (1.6 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$30,000

County

Brown County

Touchdown point

39.007, -83.813

Lift-off point

39.011, -83.796

Record number

1608170916-01

Severe thunderstorms with heavy rain developed ahead of a weak cold front.

A weak tornado touched down on the west side of Sardinia near Highway 24B (Maple Ave) and moved east-northeast through the village, ending on the northeast side of town near Highway 32 (Appalachian Highway).||The beginning of the tornado track was marked by scattered broken tree branches generally 3 to 6 inches in diameter. These branches tended to fall in a narrow corridor indicating convergence along the track. This was the primary damage observed near Maple Ave as it entered the western portion of Sardinia up to just south of the|intersection with Broad Street. A few slightly larger branches up to approximately 8 inches in diameter were broken as the tornado moved just south of Winchester Street. Wind speeds of approximately 60 to 70 mph likely caused much of this damage.||The tornado appeared to strengthen and widen as it continued to move near and just south of Sardinia-Mowrystown Road in Sardinia. Minor structural damage became more evident in this area and larger trees were broken. A gas station pump was dislodged from its base near the intersection with Winchester Street, and a section of roofing|approximately 45 feet by 10 feet was partially removed from a storage barn 100 yards to the east-northeast. Tree limbs, 4 to 7 inches in diameter, were broken across the street in the cemetery and fell south toward the center line of the track. Three large trees approximately 12-18 inches in diameter were uprooted and oriented toward the northeast on the south side of Sardinia-Mowrystown Road, near the intersection with Kelly Street. Wind speeds of 65 to 75 mph likely brought down these trees, though wet soils also contributed.||A brick chimney was also partially destroyed on a nearby house. An overall convergent debris pattern was evident in this area, especially with the tree damage.||The tornado then started to weaken just before dissipating east of Brookfield Place near Highway 32 (Appalachian Highway). A metal carport approximately 20 feet by 12 feet was lifted from the north side of Brookfield Place near the intersection with Meadow View, carried across Brookfield Place, and dropped on the south side of|the road. Leaf splatter was also observed on the west-facing side of a motor home near where the carport was dropped. An eyewitness at this location described a column of rotating debris associated with the tornado. Minor tree damage was noted at the east end of Brookfield Place, after which the tornado dissipated. Wind speeds in|this area were likely 60 to 70 mph.

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

0 minutes of warning. NWS ILN issued a tornado warning for this county at 15:16 UTC, 0 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 15:45 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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 12:52 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.

Batavia (I69), 36 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 46 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 15:16 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 2016 tornado in OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are

1 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.