EF1 tornado, Steuben to Wakeman, 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 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

November 5, 2017

Touchdown

5:08 PM EST (22:08 UTC)

Lifted

5:13 PM EST (22:13 UTC)

On the ground

5 minutes

Path length

3.0 miles (4.8 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$200,000

County

Huron County

Touchdown point

41.186, -82.639

Lift-off point

41.209, -82.591

Record number

1711051608-01

14 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS CLE, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 110 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 EF1 tornado touched down about a mile west of Steuben on the south side of State Route 162. The tornado moved north and damaged a couple large grain bins. The bins were caved in on their south facing sides. Towers on the top of the bins were toppled in different directions. A semi truck near the bins was knocked over. The tornado then crossed State Route 162 and damaged a home and a barn. The house lost a section of roofing which was found scattered to the south of the house. The tornado damaged another small grain bin before lifting over open farmland. This tornado was on the ground for just over a half mile.

An EF1 tornado touched down in rural Peru Township south of Norwalk. The initial touchdown occurred along State Route 61 about half way between Hasbrock Road and Peru Hollow Road. Some utility poles and trees were downed in the area. The tornado then continued mainly northeast downing many trees. A large swath of pine trees was leveled along Ridge Road just south of Hasbrock Road. The trees were uprooted or snapped in a convergent pattern. The tornado continued northeast to New State Road where a couple of barns and sheds sustained some roof damage. The tornado then crossed the southern end of a golf course where more downed trees and projectiles were observed. The tornado eventually lifted just south of where Old State Road crosses U.S. Route 250. This tornado was on the ground for just under 3 miles and had a damage path up to 200 yards wide.

A weak tornado touched down west of Fitchville near the intersection of Cresent and Rome Greenwich Roads. A mobile home on the south side of Crescent Road was mostly destroyed. The south side of the mobile remained anchored in place while debris from the destroyed northern half of the home was found scattered to the north and south. From the mobile the tornado moved east northeast crossing U.S. Route 250 and only intermittently making contact with the ground. The tornado settled back on the ground as it approached Palmer Road. Several trees were snapped or uprooted in that area. A clear tornado track then continued off to the northeast through several corn fields with evidence of rotation visible. The tornado then damaged a small barn as it crossed Exchange Road. Roofing material from the barn was found scattered on both sides of the road. The tornado eventually lifted just west of the intersection of Fayette and Greenwich East Roads. This tornado had a damage track about three and a quarter miles in length and up to a 100 yards in width.

An EF1 tornado touched down along Wakeman Town Line Road just north of State Route 18. A home near the initial touchdown sustained significant roof damage and some hardwood trees in the area were damaged. The tornado continued east northeast and damaged a couple buildings as it crossed Fitchville River Road. The tornado then turned to the northeast. A barn on St. Johns Road lost most of its roof. Debris from the roof was found up to a quarter mile away. The tornado continued on the ground for a couple hundred yards more before finally lifting over open farmland. Dozens of trees were snapped or uprooted along the damage path. This tornado was on the ground just under two miles and had a damage path up to 100 yards in the width.

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

10 minutes of warning. NWS CLE issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:58 UTC, 10 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 17:10 UTC and running to 00:00 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 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 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), 67 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.

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.