Tornadoes · United States · Ohio · 2019

EF1 tornado, Carrollton, Ohio, May 25, 2019

This EF1 tornado ran 0.5 miles across Carroll County on May 25, 2019, touching down at 6:42 PM EDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $60,000 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 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.

The record

Rating
EF1
Date
May 25, 2019
Touchdown
6:42 PM EDT (22:42 UTC)
Lifted
6:43 PM EDT (22:43 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.5 miles (0.9 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$60,000
County
Carroll County
Touchdown point
40.580, -81.090
Lift-off point
40.575, -81.076
Record number
1905251642-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A warm front lifted northeast across Pennsylvania, just ahead of a line of convection. Dewpoints in the mid 60s to near 70 spread eastward with time and increased in coverage. Strong heating and destabilization occurred in strong deep layer west/southwestly flow. Low-level lapse rates steepened, and 30-40 knot southwest winds around 700mb increased support for damaging thunderstorm wind gusts. Vertical shear supported rotating updrafts and a few supercell structures.

The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh has confirmed an EF1 tornado in the city of Carrollton on Saturday afternoon May 25th.|||The tornado touched down in a wooded area off of Crest |Street then lifted briefly across Canton Road NW before tearing the top of a |large hardwood tree behind the McDonald's. The worst of the damage |was an overturned single wide mobile home. There were shingles off |several other mobile homes within the mobile home park. A metal shed |was also destroyed. Intermittent touchdowns continued causing minor |damage and shingles off the roofs of a few homes along N Lisbon |Street. Numerous hardwood trees behind the aforementioned street |were snapped mid way up in a ravine.

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. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 20:52 UTC and running to 23:55 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:31 UTC21:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZ
20:46 UTC21:15 UTCTornado WarningPBZ
20:52 UTC23:55 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchPBZ
22:24 UTC23:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZ
22:55 UTC23:16 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZ

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 Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:48 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.

Pittsburgh, PA (KAGC), 12:00Z

10.7 hours before the tornado, 85 km from the path. May 25, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2019-05-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 124 joules per kilogram, CIN -98, lifted condensation level 1041 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2019-05-25The 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 151 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 45 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
124 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-98 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1041 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
151 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
156 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.6
0-3 km lapse rate
3.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Pittsburgh, PA (KAGC), 00:00Z

1.3 hours after it, 85 km from the path. May 26, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 2019-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 952 joules per kilogram, CIN -16, lifted condensation level 1060 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 2019-05-26The 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 199 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 42 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
952 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2663 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1060 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
199 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
236 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
12.4
0-3 km lapse rate
7.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 73 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:41 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
20:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Nne MassillonStark, OHLARGE TREES DOWN.
20:34 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 S Portage LakesSummit, OHVIDEO FROM SOCIAL MEDIA SHOWED DAMAGING WINDS WITH TREES BLOWING AND LARGE BRANCHES SNAPPED NEAR NEW FRANKLIN. ALSO FENCE WAS SMASHED BY LARGE TREES. TIME WAS FROM TIMESTAMP ON VIDEO AND RADAR DATA.
20:38 UTCHAIL 1.5DaltonWayne, OHDELAYED REPORT...PICTURE OF PING PONG SIZE HAIL ON FACEBOOK.
20:40 UTCTSTM WND GST 721 Ssw GreenSummit, OHREPORTED AT AKRON REGIONAL AIRPORT.
20:40 UTCTSTM WND GST 72Akron Fulton InternatioSummit, OHCORRECTS PREVIOUS TSTM WND GST REPORT FROM 1 SSW GREEN. REPORTED AT AKRON FULTON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
20:43 UTCHAIL 11 N LakemoreSummit, OH
20:44 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Sse New AthensBelmont, OHTWO TREES DOWN ON ROUTE 9 NEAR BELMONT AND HARRISON COUNTY BORDER.
20:47 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 N Port WashingtonTuscarawas, OHTREES DOWN IN AREA.
21:00 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Wnw MassillonStark, OHA TREE WAS UPROOTED NEAR KENYON AVE AND HWY 172. MULTIPLE TREES AND POWER LINES BLOWN DOWN AROUND MASSILON.
21:04 UTCHAIL 1.251 Sw NewportTuscarawas, OH
21:09 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Sw CantonStark, OHLARGE TREE ON A HOUSE. MULTIPLE ROADS BLOCKED IN THE CANTON AREA DUE TO TREES AND LINES DOWN.
21:10 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 S CantonStark, OHMULTIPLE TREES AND POWER LINES BLOWN DOWN IN CANTON. TIME WAS ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
21:42 UTCTORNADOCarrolltonCarroll, OHNWS CONFIRMS AN EF1 TORNADO WITH WINDS BETWEEN 90-95 MPH.
22:21 UTCTSTM WND GST 654 Ese LouisvilleStark, OHMEASURED GUST TO 65 MPH.
22:40 UTCTSTM WND DMGCarrolltonCarroll, OHSIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO MOBILE HOME IN BECKY LYNN MOBILE HOME PARK.
22:41 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 S GuilfordColumbiana, OHSIGNLE TREE DOWN ON TRINITY CHURCH ROAD.
22:41 UTCTSTM WND DMGCarrolltonCarroll, OHDAMAGE AT THE BECKY-LYN MOBILE HOME PARK
22:42 UTCTORNADOCarrolltonCarroll, OHNWS CONFIRMS AN EF1 TORNADO WITH WINDS BETWEEN 90-95 MPH.
00:06 UTCTSTM WND DMGUniontownBelmont, OHTREE DOWN

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2019 tornado in OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 25, 2019

21 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 254:59 PM CDTUnratedHockley, TX1.130
May 255:39 PM CDTEF2Hale, TX1.7100$250,000
May 256:08 PM CDTUnratedHale, TX4.6100
May 257:04 PM CDTUnratedGreer, OK0.330
May 257:14 PM CDTUnratedBeckham, OK0.250
May 258:27 PM EDTEF1Indiana, PA5.135
May 258:32 PM EDTEF0Indiana, PA0.120
May 257:40 PM CDTUnratedHall, TX0.030
May 2510:28 PM CDTEF3Canadian, OK2.275229$400,000
May 2510:46 PM CDTEF0Oklahoma, OK0.950$20,000
May 2510:49 PM CDTEF0Oklahoma, OK0.750$20,000
May 2510:53 PM CDTEF0Oklahoma, OK0.530$10,000
May 2510:56 PM CDTEF0Cleveland, OK0.730$10,000
May 2510:57 PM CDTEF0Oklahoma, OK0.230$2,000
May 2511:14 PM CDTEF1Tazewell, IL1.1200
May 2511:19 PM CDTEF1Tazewell, IL0.7150
May 2512:04 AM CDTEF1Creek, OK2.6200$40,000
May 2512:14 AM CDTEF1Creek, OK10.71,000$250,000
May 2512:21 AM CDTEF1Creek, OK12.51,400$760,000
May 2512:27 AM CDTEF1Tulsa, OK12.32,200$1.1 million
May 2512:51 AM CDTEF0Tulsa, OK1.8400$175,000

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.