EF1 tornado, Grape Grove, Ohio, May 27, 2019

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 27, 2019

Touchdown

11:48 PM EDT (03:48 UTC)

Lifted

11:57 PM EDT (03:57 UTC)

On the ground

9 minutes

Path length

5.8 miles (9.3 km)

Path width

250 yards (229 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$53,000

Counties

Greene and Fayette counties

Touchdown point

39.707, -83.734

Lift-off point

39.686, -83.643

Record number

1905272148-01

20 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 107 mph.

• Likely Rear flank downdraft

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

Thunderstorms developed during the evening hours along a warm front lifting slowly north across the region. Many of the thunderstorms produced tornadoes, including a few strong to violent tornadoes.

This tornado appears to have begun on Lackey Road, where the first visible signs of tree damage were observed. The tornado is believed to have then moved across the field between Lackey Road and South Charleston Road.||Damage was next observed on Paullin Road, where one residence had minor structural damage with some roof and siding removed. Additionally, multiple large tree limbs were downed in the vicinity. There was also a power pole that was knocked down along Paullin Road. Evidence of a tornadic circulation could be seen in the field to the southeast of Paullin Road.||The most significant damage from this tornado occurred along Watkins Road, where splatter of mud, dirt and insulation were observed on all sides of a residence. Several windows were blown in, with some roof and siding damage observed on multiple sides of the home. The carport was also destroyed. Damage at this residence was consistent with EF1 tornadic damage. The tornado then continued east, crossing into Fayette County at 2255EST, about 4 mile northeast of Jamestown. The tornado then came to an end at 2257EST, about 1.3 miles north-northwest of Pleasant View.

The tornado first touched down in Greene County, about 4 miles north of Jamestown. The tornado traveled southeast before turning more easterly as it entered Fayette County about 4 miles northeast of Jamestown. While in Fayette County, a few tree limbs were downed and siding was removed at a property along Pleasant View Road. No additional damage was found to the east of this location. The damage in Fayette County was consistent with a lower-end EF0 tornado.

The beginning of this tornado is believed to have occurred along South Charleston Road where homes on both sides of the road had multiple large hardwood trees snapped. One residence also had a shed completely destroyed and metal from the shed was blown into the field.||On the next road east across the field, on Rogers Road, the most significant damage from the tornado was observed. The second story of one home had much of its roof removed and had multiple interior walls collapsed. Tree damage was also significant at this property as well as at nearby residences on Rogers Road.||Further east, at a property along Watkins Road, a roof was ripped off of a barn, with a shed completely destroyed. A bit further to the east, along Sheley Road, a home and garage had siding removed. Several hardwood trees were snapped in this area as well. A barn roof was also removed south of the intersection of Sheley and Rogers Road. Windows were also blown out at another property along Sheley Road. No further damage was observed to the east of Sheley Road.

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

21 minutes of warning. NWS ILN issued a tornado warning for this county at 03:27 UTC, 21 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 04:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 00:21 UTC and running to 04:34 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 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:18 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.

Springfield (SGH), 21 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 33 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:49 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 2019 tornado in OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are

62 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 63 of them

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.