Tornadoes · United States · Ohio · 2017

EF0 tornado, Enon to Rock Way, Ohio, April 5, 2017

From Enon to Rock Way, this EF0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Clark County on April 5, 2017, touching down at 6:51 PM EDT and reaching 40 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $30,000 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
April 5, 2017
Touchdown
6:51 PM EDT (22:51 UTC)
Lifted
6:52 PM EDT (22:52 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.1 miles (0.1 km)
Path width
40 yards (37 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$30,000
County
Clark County
Touchdown point
39.871, -83.952
Lift-off point
39.871, -83.951
Record number
1704051651-01

The damage survey

22 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS ILN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 84 mph.

  • roof section tossed about 20 yards down stream
  • roof debris carried into field downstream of home
  • Debris from back deck carried to front of house. Front of home faces east, with damage to front porch on the downwind facing side.
  • garage roof shingles lifted and thrown against against North facing side of house

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

What the Weather Service recorded

Showers and thunderstorms developed ahead of a strengthening surface low which moved from the Middle Mississippi Valley into Northwest Ohio.

The first evidence of damage occurred to a home and farm |buildings along Dayton-Springfield Road southwest of Enon. ||While there were numerous homes in the area which sustained tree |damage and lightweight debris damage, the vast majority of this |damage was from straight line winds estimated at 70 mph. The wind |damage was southwest to northeast with no evidence of tornadic |winds making direct contact with the ground nor debris found on |downwind sides of buildings.||There was embedded damage to a farm home and barns where large|sections of roofing material were peeled off and lofted, causing|damage to the downwind home. There was additional roof damage to|the home and 2 additional farm buildings. The southward facing|garage door to the home was blown inward. Two combines located in|one of the outbuildings were pushed downwind, with the outbuilding|itself collapsed. ||Where there was evidence of tornado damage was in the |downwind/northeast facing wall of the home and one of the barns, |where debris splatter was observed. Because of heavy rain after |the passage of the storm, direct ground damage indicative of a |tornado in contact with the ground was inconclusive.

Widespread wind damage was observed west of Springfield in the|Tecumseh Trails Subdivision and along North Tecumseh Road north|of New Carlisle Pike. Several homes in the Tecumseh Trails|subdivision sustained roof damage indicative of 75 to 80 mph |winds. However, all of the debris was scattered in a northerly to |northeasterly direction, with no ground based evidence of a |tornado apparent. There was no evidence of light mud nor debris |splatter in the downwind facing side of the homes. However, the |wind damage was significant, resulting in a large section of roof |removed from one home, with other homes in the area sustaining |smaller sections of roof damage. There was additional tree damage|along New Carlisle Pike, including damage to a fence caused by |damaged trees. ||Where tornado damage was evident was further east along North |Tecumseh Road. Roof and siding damage was sustained by several |homes. One home had clear debris splatter on the north facing side|of the home, as well as splatter and damage on an eastward facing|porch. This strongly suggests winds traveling in an opposite |direction of the north to northeastward moving storm and provides |evidence of tornadic damage. ||The storm traveling through this area of Clark County had|significant winds producing widespread tree and roof damage.|Nearly all of the damage surveyed was pretty clearly in a|northerly to northeasterly direction, indicating strong straight|line wind damage. Damage caused by the brief tornado touchdown |along North Tecumseh Road was similar in magnitude to the |strongest straight line wind damage nearby. ||Through witness accounts, it is estimated that the tornado was on|the ground a very brief time, likely less than 1 minute.

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 20:18 UTC and running to 01:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:18 UTC01:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchILN
22:31 UTC23:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningILN
22:56 UTC23:31 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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:59 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

10.9 hours before the tornado, 51 km from the path. April 5, 2017.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 2017-04-05Temperature 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 -97445, lifted condensation level 1143 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 2017-04-05The 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 135 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 66 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-97445 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1143 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
66 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
135 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
229 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
2.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

1.1 hours after it, 51 km from the path. April 6, 2017.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 2017-04-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2 joules per kilogram, CIN -176, lifted condensation level 1464 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 2017-04-06The 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 240 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 28 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
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-176 J/kg
Surface CAPE
66 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1464 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
240 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
334 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 51 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:52 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 UTCTSTM WND DMGGratisPreble, OHTREE DOWN.
22:06 UTCHAIL 1GratisPreble, OH
22:18 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Ssw New LebanonMontgomery, OHTIN ROOF OF A BARN PULLED BACK. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
22:18 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 W New LebanonMontgomery, OHSEVERAL LARGE LIMBS DOWNED. PIECES OF A BARN TIN ROOF BLOWN OFF. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
22:32 UTCTSTM WND GST 591 Nw Downtown DaytonMontgomery, OHDIME SIZED HAIL AS WELL. CORRECTED EVENT LOCATION.
22:34 UTCHAIL 0.52 Ssw Downtown DaytonMontgomery, OHHAIL ACCUMULATED ON GROUND. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
22:36 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Ssw BellbrookGreene, OHTWENTY TO TWENTY FIVE TREES BROKEN OFF HIGH IN THE SUGARCREEK METROPARK, JUST NORTHEAST OF CONFERENCE RD. AND WILMINGTON-DAYTON RD. INTERSECTION.
22:36 UTCHAIL 0.5E Downtown DaytonMontgomery, OHTIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
22:37 UTCTSTM WND GST 63Kday Dayton Cox AptMontgomery, OH
22:38 UTCHAIL 1Downtown DaytonMontgomery, OH
22:40 UTCHAIL 0.25KetteringMontgomery, OHHAIL COVERING THE GROUND. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
22:43 UTCTSTM WND GST 65VandaliaMontgomery, OH
22:43 UTCHAIL 0.75Huber HeightsMontgomery, OHTIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
22:45 UTCTSTM WND GST 61Kffo Wright-Patt AfbGreene, OH
22:49 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Nne FairbornGreene, OHENTIRE TREE UPROOTED IN A YARD ON DAYTON-SPRINGFIELD RD. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
22:49 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Nne FairbornGreene, OHENTIRE TREE UPROOTED IN A YARD ON DAYTON-SPRINGFIELD RD. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
22:49 UTCTSTM WND GST 49Ki19 Xenia AptGreene, OH
22:51 UTCTORNADO 05 Nw Yellow SpringsClark, OHNWS STORM SURVEY CONFIRMS AN EF0 TORNADO NEAR ENON. A FARM PROPERTY WAS DAMAGED ON DAYTON-SPRINGFIELD ROAD.
22:54 UTCHAIL 1MedwayClark, OH
22:55 UTCTSTM WND DMG6 Ese New CarlisleClark, OHSEVERAL LARGE TREE LIMBS DOWN NEAR ENON RD. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
22:57 UTCTSTM WND GST 51Ksgh Springfield AptClark, OH
22:58 UTCTORNADO 06 W SpringfieldClark, OHNWS STORM SURVEY CONFIRMS AN EF0 TORNADO WEST OF SPRINGFIELD. A FEW HOMES AND PROPERTIES WERE DAMAGED ALONG NORTH TECUMSEH ROAD.
23:03 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Nw SpringfieldClark, OHSCATTERED DAMAGE THROUGHOUT THE NEIGHBORHOOD, INCLUDING A SHED FLIPPED OVER, LAWN FURNITURE THROWN.
23:04 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Nw SpringfieldClark, OHDAMAGE TO A BARN ON JOHNSON ROAD.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2017 tornado in OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 5, 2017

23 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 510:49 AM CDTEF2Quitman, AL to GA10.41,140$600,000
April 512:03 PM EDTEF1Coweta, GA4.0350$20,000
April 512:09 PM EDTEF1Walton, GA2.9350$40,000
April 512:27 PM EDTEF2Randolph, GA16.91,320$150,000
April 51:17 PM EDTEF2Edgefield, SC7.21,0001
April 51:40 PM EDTEF0Sumter, GA3.2150$30,000
April 51:55 PM EDTEF1Dooly, GA8.8200$150,000
April 52:06 PM EDTEF0Lexington, SC0.075
April 53:05 PM EDTEF1Dodge, GA4.1350$200,000
April 52:10 PM CDTEF1Williamson, IL0.125$35,000
April 53:38 PM EDTEF2Laurens, GA20.2400$170,000
April 53:47 PM CDTEF1Bedford, TN7.1150$50,000
April 54:44 PM CDTEF0Cleburne, AL0.375
April 55:54 PM EDTEF1Henry, KY1.7100$100,000
April 54:59 PM CDTEF1Warren, TN3.41251$50,000
April 56:04 PM EDTEF1Daviess, IN1.290$65,000
April 55:11 PM CDTEF1Metcalfe, KY0.750$150,000
April 55:12 PM CDTEF1Metcalfe, KY0.450$75,000
April 55:16 PM CDTEF1Green, KY0.8250$100,000
April 56:58 PM EDTEF0Clark, OH0.140$50,000
April 58:39 PM CDTEF1Chambers, AL2.0125
April 512:20 AM EDTEF0Anderson, SC0.150
April 512:30 AM EDTEF0Anderson, SC0.130$1,000

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.