Tornadoes · United States · Ohio · 2016

EF0 tornado, Columbus, Ohio, June 4, 2016

This EF0 tornado ran 0.3 miles across Franklin County on June 4, 2016, touching down at 6:06 PM EDT and reaching 135 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $100,000 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
June 4, 2016
Touchdown
6:06 PM EDT (22:06 UTC)
Lifted
6:10 PM EDT (22:10 UTC)
On the ground
4 minutes
Path length
0.3 miles (0.5 km)
Path width
135 yards (123 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$100,000
County
Franklin County
Touchdown point
40.035, -82.949
Lift-off point
40.035, -82.943
Record number
1606041606-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Severe thunderstorms developed ahead of an upper level trough which was digging into the Great Lakes.

Damage was first observed on Deserette Court. The west-facing|side of several housing units had shutters torn off and also|experienced minor siding damage. This is where it appears the|tornado first touched down.||On the opposite side of Deserette Court, additional shutter and|siding damage was observed, and primarily affected the east-facing|side of the housing units.||Damage continued to the east onto Boyleston Boulevard, with the|garage door of one home completely destroyed and walls of the|garage experiencing significant damage. Siding and roof damage was|also observed on this home, and damage is assessed to be in the|EF0 category, with winds around 80 mph. An eyewitness also stated|that she was looking west and saw a tornado moving toward|Boyleston Boulevard.||A swath of damage continued to the east, affecting homes along|Niantic Drive and Hingham Lane. Much of the damage was associated|with trees, where large tree branches in the back yards of|several homes on both Niantic Drive and Hingham Lane were snapped.|A convergent pattern was observed from 10 to 12 inch diameter tree|branches. Some damage to homes was also observed, including a|large portion of siding being stripped off the east-facing side of|a two story home. Minor roof damage was also noted on several|homes.||Damage became more sparse further east along Hingham Lane and was|confined to a few large hardwood tree branches being snapped off.

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.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
21:53 UTC00:00 UTCFlood AdvisoryILN

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 19:44 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

10.1 hours before the tornado, 99 km from the path. June 4, 2016.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 2016-06-04Temperature 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 -84273, lifted condensation level 1274 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2016-06-04The 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 46 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 25 knots.193958Sfc1 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
-84273 J/kg
Surface CAPE
16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1274 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
46 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
112 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

1.9 hours after it, 99 km from the path. June 5, 2016.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 2016-06-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 28 joules per kilogram, CIN -72, lifted condensation level 966 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 2016-06-05The 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 154 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 45 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
28 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-72 J/kg
Surface CAPE
490 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
966 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
154 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
190 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5
0-3 km lapse rate
5.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Columbus (CMH), 7 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
20:10 UTC150° 6 kt1010.5
20:15 UTC180° 4 kt1010.5
20:20 UTC160° 5 kt1010.5
20:25 UTC150° 7 kt1010.5
20:30 UTC150° 4 kt1010.2
20:35 UTC140° 5 kt1010.2
20:40 UTC130° 7 kt1010.2
20:45 UTC120° 7 kt1010.2
20:50 UTC140° 8 kt1010.2
20:51 UTC8066150° 9 kt1010.2
20:55 UTC180° 8 kt1010.2
21:00 UTC170° 7 kt1010.2
21:05 UTC160° 8 kt1010.2
21:10 UTC180° 9 kt1009.8
21:15 UTC180° 6 kt1009.8
21:20 UTC190° 9 kt1009.8
21:25 UTC160° 10 kt1009.8
21:30 UTC160° 9 kt1009.8
21:35 UTC150° 9 kt1009.8
21:40 UTC150° 8 kt1009.5
21:45 UTC150° 11 kt1009.1
21:50 UTC150° 8 kt1009.1-RA
21:51 UTC7868160° 8 kt1009.1-RA
21:55 UTC160° 9 kt1009.1-RA
22:00 UTC150° 11 kt1009.1-RA
22:05 UTC160° 13 kt1009.1
22:10 UTC180° 13 kt1009.5
22:15 UTC 1009.8
22:20 UTC200° 10 kt1009.8
22:25 UTC260° 9 kt1009.8
22:30 UTC320° 9 kt1009.5
22:35 UTC280° 4 kt1009.5
22:40 UTC300° 5 kt1009.1
22:41 UTC71.664.4290° 4 kt1009.1
22:45 UTC270° 3 kt1009.1
22:50 UTC260° 5 kt1009.1
22:51 UTC7165270° 4 kt1009.1
22:55 UTC290° 4 kt1009.1
23:00 UTC0° 0 kt1009.1
23:05 UTC0° 0 kt1009.1
23:10 UTC0° 0 kt1009.1
23:15 UTC0° 0 kt1008.8
23:20 UTC0° 0 kt1008.8
23:25 UTC140° 3 kt1008.8
23:30 UTC170° 8 kt1008.8-RA
23:35 UTC180° 8 kt1008.5
23:40 UTC160° 7 kt1008.5
23:44 UTC73.469.8180° 8 kt1008.5
23:45 UTC190° 8 kt1008.5
23:50 UTC190° 7 kt1008.5
23:51 UTC7469200° 7 kt1008.5
23:55 UTC180° 8 kt1008.5
00:00 UTC190° 7 kt1008.5
00:05 UTC170° 7 kt1008.5

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

The radar

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 101 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:05 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
22:06 UTCTORNADO4 W GahannaFranklin, OHEF0 TORNADO CONFIRMED NEAR NORTHEAST COLUMBUS IN FRANKLIN COUNTY, OHIO.
22:07 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 W GahannaFranklin, OHHOUSE ON BOYLESTON BLVD DAMAGED. ALSO ONE LARGE TREE KNOCKED DOWN ALONG WITH LOTS OF 7 INCH TO 1 FOOT DIAMETER BRANCHES DOWN.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2016 tornado in OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 4, 2016

3 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 45:20 PM EDTEF0Delaware, IN0.040$1,000
June 46:25 PM EDTEF0Wayne, IN1.4150$40,000
June 47:00 PM CDTEF0Shawano, WI0.050

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.