EF2 tornado, Wick to Simons, Ohio, November 5, 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 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 mphthis tornado

   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

EF2

Date

November 5, 2017

Touchdown

6:51 PM EST (23:51 UTC)

Lifted

6:57 PM EST (23:57 UTC)

On the ground

6 minutes

Path length

6.7 miles (10.8 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$1.5 million

County

Ashtabula County

Touchdown point

41.519, -80.647

Lift-off point

41.538, -80.520

Record number

1711051751-01

18 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS CLE, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 127 mph.

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

A cold front moved across the Ohio Valley and southern Great Lakes on the afternoon of Sunday, November 5th, 2017. Unseasonably warm and humid air was in place across the region ahead of the front. The cold front gradually progressed across the Ohio Valley and thunderstorms initiated and swept east ahead of the front. The storms formed in a very strong wind field and allowed the storms to move very rapidly east at speeds of 60 to 80 mph. A large macroburst formed and swept east just south of Cleveland and produced winds in excess of 100 mph. The most concentrated damage stretched from southern Lorain County across Cuyahoga County and into northern Summit, northern Portage and southern Geauga Counties. A 105 mph thunderstorm wind gust was measured at Aurora in Portage County. In addition to the damaging winds, at least 13 tornados were reported. Three of the tornadoes reached EF2 intensity with eight EF1 tornadoes and two EF0 tornadoes. Tens of thousands of trees were downed by these storms and widespread power outages occurred. In the Cleveland area alone, over 100,000 electric customers lost power. It took several days for power to be completely restored. Dozens of homes, buildings and barns were damaged or destroyed by the tornadoes.

An EF0 tornado touched downed in a field in rural Wayne Township near the southern border of Ashtabula County. The initial touchdown occurred along Hayes Road about half way between U.S. Route 322 and the county line. A few trees were downed in the area. The tornado continued east northeast across mainly farm land while quickly intensifying to EF1 intensity. The tornado eventually reached the Williamsfield area and crossed State Route 7 just south of its intersection with U.S. Route 322. It then intensified to EF2 strength and roughly followed U.S. 322 for close to two miles. The tornado then took a turn to the northeast as it crossed Simons South Road and lifted just as it reached the Pennsylvania state line. The worst damage was observed along U.S. 322 east of State Route 7. Around 20 properties were affected by the tornado. At least four homes were destroyed with eight more sustaining major damage. The other homes along the damage path sustained lesser amounts of damage. The four destroyed homes were all within a third of mile from each other on U.S. 322. A couple garages along U.S. 322 were also leveled and tree damage was extensive. Debris was observed scattered in fields across the area. The damage path was over six and a half miles in length and up to 200 yards in width. It took several days for power to be restored in the Williamsfield area. No injuries were reported.

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

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 22:31 UTC and running to 01:37 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.02 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 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 Cleveland radar (KCLE), 107 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:48 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

23 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.