EF2 tornado, South Perry, 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 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

May 27, 2019

Touchdown

1:17 AM EDT (05:17 UTC)

Lifted

1:28 AM EDT (05:28 UTC)

On the ground

11 minutes

Path length

5.3 miles (8.5 km)

Path width

400 yards (366 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$1.5 million

County

Hocking County

Touchdown point

39.513, -82.727

Lift-off point

39.523, -82.624

Record number

1905272317-01

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.

The tornado initially touched down about 50 yards west of Union Road/Township Highway 145, where extensive and somewhat severe tree damage was observed at multiple points. More significant structural damage was observed at a home on Wolfe Road, where the second level was completely destroyed and removed from the structure. Windows were blown out of cars on the property and a garage was also completely destroyed. Other homes in the vicinity received minor structural damage, including partial roof removal from several homes. Nearby trees were debarked with significant and severe tree damage extending a bit further east. This continuation of severe and widespread tree damage, including large swaths where trees appeared to have been mowed down, was observed via an aerial survey. Sheared off and flattened tree swaths had widths extending at least several hundred feet. It is because of the aerial footage, as well as on-ground survey efforts, that it was determined that the tornado width grew up to one quarter mile in width east of Union Road, leading up to Middle Fork Road. Here, several homes were impacted, with one of the homes severely damaged. A large propane tank had been thrown 20 to 30 feet from its original resting position. Moreover, a 7000 pound truck was thrown into a house. Widespread significant and severe tree damage was observed in this vicinity as well, including several instances of debarking.||The tornado continued on an eastward path east of Middle Fork Road to Long Run Road. Extensive and widespread significant tree damage was observed in this highly forested area. Several more structures along Long Run Road were damaged, either by the tornado itself or by the large trees downed throughout the area. One mobile home had a tree sever the structure in half. Downed trees in this area were several yards in diameter. Here, it is believed that the tornado maintained a width of up to one quarter of a mile.||A bit further to the east, additional but more minor tree damage was observed along Clapper Hollow Road. Tree damage in this area was less severe and less widespread than points further west. Little to no additional tree or structural damage was observed further east of Clapper Hollow Road. Therefore, it is believed that the tornado lifted shortly after passing east of Clapper Hollow Road.

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

10 minutes of warning. NWS ILN issued a tornado warning for this county at 05:07 UTC, 10 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 05:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 00:21 UTC and running to 06:00 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 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.

Lancaster (LHQ), 26 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 99 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:16 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.