EF1 tornado, Brandt to Eldean, Ohio, May 24, 2017

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

   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

EF1

Date

May 24, 2017

Touchdown

10:03 PM EDT (02:03 UTC)

Lifted

10:10 PM EDT (02:10 UTC)

On the ground

7 minutes

Path length

1.9 miles (3.1 km)

Path width

160 yards (146 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$5,000

County

Miami County

Touchdown point

40.079, -84.154

Lift-off point

40.102, -84.173

Record number

1705242003-01

36 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS ILN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 109 mph.

• HVAC units lifted from roof also
• canopy debris tossed into business to north, breaking windows. construction tubing carried into business showroom
• broken glass was from flying debris. light pole also snapped and pushed westward
• siding damage due to roof debris from business to south

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

A slow moving low pressure system resulted in thunderstorm development through the late afternoon. The thunderstorms continued into the evening hours, producing locally heavy rainfall and isolated tornadoes.

The tornado first touched down on the western side of Park Layne in Clark County at 2016EST and entered Miami County at 2020EST, about 1.7 miles east-southeast of Brandt. The tornado continued in Miami County for another 4.1 miles before dissipating along State Route 571, west of State Route 201. ||While in Miami County, tree and minor roof damage occurred along Bellefontaine Road, Palmer Road, and State Route 201, with maximum wind speed estimates of 95 mph in this area, or EF1. The tornado track appeared to end just northwest of the State Route 571 intersection with State Route 201, where a barn sustained damage caused by estimated wind speeds of around 80 mph. The maximum width in Miami County was 300 yards. This tornado was rated an EF1 in both Miami and Clark Counties.

Based on video evidence and radar imagery, the tornado is believed to have touched down in a field north of the intersection of Polecat Road and Troy Urbana Road. The tornado moved north to Deweese Road approximately one-half mile north of the intersection with East Rusk Road. Tree branches generally 4 inches in diameter or smaller were broken immediately west of Deweese Road at the start of the tornado track. More significant damage occurred less than one-tenth of a mile north where several maple trees up to 18 inches in diameter were snapped. This is where the tornado was believed to be at peak intensity with winds estimated near 90 mph. There was also a large barn immediately east that was moved several inches off its foundation. This movement was likely caused by winds approaching 90 mph while flowing into the circulation. The tornado then started to weaken as it moved north-|northwest near Deweese Road to a point approximately two-tenths of a mile southwest of the intersection with East Peterson Road. Tree damage was generally less significant in this area with estimated wind speeds of 60-75 mph. The tornado appears to have lifted at this point, and no further damage was observed farther northwest. Damage along this path was oriented in convergent and semi-circular patterns consistent with the presence of a tornado.

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

23 minutes of warning. NWS ILN issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:40 UTC, 23 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:15 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 Marginal Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:51 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.

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 80 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:02 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 2017 tornado in OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are

26 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.