EF1 tornado, Huntsburg to Bundysburg, Ohio, September 20, 2018

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

September 20, 2018

Touchdown

2:31 PM EDT (18:31 UTC)

Lifted

2:41 PM EDT (18:41 UTC)

On the ground

10 minutes

Path length

4.1 miles (6.6 km)

Path width

25 yards (23 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$145,000

Counties

Geauga and Trumbull counties

Touchdown point

41.481, -81.021

Lift-off point

41.426, -80.992

Record number

1809201231-01

9 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 98 mph.

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

A warm front lifted north across Ohio on September 20th ushering in unseasonably warm and humid weather. Scattered thunderstorms developed along the front during the middle part of the afternoon. A couple of thunderstorms became severe and one produced two tornadoes in Northeast Ohio.

An EF0 tornado touched down in rural Geauga County approximately three miles north of Middlefield. The initial touchdown occurred just east of the intersection of Burton Windsor and Durkee Roads in Huntsburg Township. Trees and large limbs were snapped in the area. The tornado then continued south southeast and briefly strengthened to EF1 intensity as it crossed State Route 528 south of Nauvoo Road. A building under construction along State Route 528 was heavily damaged. The tornado then quickly weakened to EF0 intensity and dissipated as it approached State Route 87 about a half mile east of State Route 528. The tornado appeared to be on the ground intermittently with downed trees and snapped limbs the main damage indicator. The tornado track was just over three miles in length and was no more than 25 yards in width.

An EF0 tornado touched down in rural Geauga County about three miles northeast of Middlefield. The initial touchdown occurred just northeast of the intersection of Hayes and Nauvoo Roads in Middlefield Township. The tornado continued south southeast for nearly two and a half miles before crossing into Trumbull County. The tornado strengthened to EF1 intensity as it approached State Route 87. Two mobile homes along State Route 87 just west of Bundysburg Road and the Trumbull County line were damaged. One of the mobile homes was overturned and the second lost roofing and walls. No injuries were reported. The damage path appears to have been intermittent with numerous trees and limbs snapped. The damage path in Geauga County was no more than 25 yards in width. Upon exiting Geauga County, this tornado continued for another mile and a half in Trumbull County before dissipating.

An EF1 tornado crossed into Trumbull County from Geauga County. This occurred in Mesopotamia Township along Bundysburg about three quarters of a mile south of State Route 87. The tornado quickly weakened to EF0 intensity and continued south southeast for just over a mile and a half before dissipating as it approached Clark Road about a half mile east of Parkman Mesopotamia Road. The damage path in Trumbull County was intermittent and consisted of mainly downed trees and limbs. The damage path was no more than 25 yards in width.

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

14 minutes of warning. NWS CLE issued a tornado warning for this county at 18:17 UTC, 14 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 18:45 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 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.

Ravenna (POV), 34 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Cleveland radar (KCLE), 71 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 18:30 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 2018 tornado in OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are

28 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.