EF1 tornado, Hayesville to Stringtown, 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

12:57 AM EDT (04:57 UTC)

Lifted

1:05 AM EDT (05:05 UTC)

On the ground

8 minutes

Path length

3.8 miles (6.1 km)

Path width

150 yards (137 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$1.0 million

County

Pickaway County

Touchdown point

39.549, -82.935

Lift-off point

39.534, -82.867

Record number

1905272257-01

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 is believed to have first touched down just west of Circleville-Kingston Road, along which there was a structure that sustained some minor roof damage close to the intersection with Gay-Dreisbach Road. ||A bit further to the east, at the next north-south oriented road (Gay-Dreisbach Road), several structures sustained more significant damage. In particular, a house had its garage destroyed, with the roof removed completely and placed in the yard. Some structural damage also occurred to the connecting wall to the main house. It was at this location where some of the most severe damage associated with this tornado was observed to have occurred. Damage at this property along Gay-Dreisbach Road was consistent with estimated winds of around 100 mph.||An additional area of damage believed to be tornadic in nature was near the intersection of Ludwig-Dresback Road and Morris Salem Road, where several large trees were downed and minor roof damage was observed at a property on Ludwig-Dresback Road. A barn was also damaged on the same property. Further southeast, sporadic, but locally extensive, tree damage and minor structural (siding/roof) damage was observed at several properties on Zane Trail Road near Morris Salem Road.||Just south of the intersection of Morris Salem and Zane Trail Roads, extensive tree damage was observed at multiple properties on Morris Salem Road. An outdoor structure at a residence was completely destroyed with the garage of the home also dismantled. A corner of a home at the same property was also severely damaged, with a portion of the wall partially removed, leaving a gaping hole in the corner of the structure. Debris from the structures and tree damage were strewn in the nearby fields. ||Further east and southeast, sporadic tree and minor structural damage was observed at several locations just east of Morris Salem Road. However, damage was not observed much further to the south or east, and therefore it is believed the tornado lifted just east of Morris Salem Road, south of Zane Trail Road. Damage in these areas was consistent with an EF0 tornado, particularly at the properties near the intersection of Morris Salem Road and Zane Trail Road.

The beginning of the tornado-related damage was observed on State Route 56, just west of the Salt Creek Elementary School. A property along this stretch of road sustained extensive roof damage in which nearly the entire roof was removed from the structure. Significant debris scatter of lumber and insulation was observed on this property and surrounding properties. Splatter was observed on the southward-facing facade of the structure, with several pieces of lumber forced into the ground of the yard.||At a nearby structure on Kime-Holderman Road, just south of State Route 56, minor siding damage was observed on the north-facing side of the home. Part of the roof of this house was also removed. Extensive tree damage was also observed near the intersection of Kime-Holderman Road and State Route 56. Another home on State Route 56, just west of Salt Creek Elementary School, had minor roof damage.||A bit further east, approximately across the street from Salt Creek Elementary School, a home being constructed had several walls removed from the structure. Additionally, a barn on a property nearby sustained some roof damage, but the nearby home appeared to have little to no visible damage. | |Slightly farther east on State Route 56 and about two tenths of a mile south of South Perry Road, an outbuilding was completely destroyed and the home on the property sustained partial roof removal and wall damage/failure. Several large trees were also downed in this vicinity. The damage observed on this property, between State Route 56 and Tarlton-Adelphi Road, was some of the most significant associated with this tornado and was likely the result of winds in excess of 100 mph.||Along the western side of Tarlton-Adelphi Road, extensive tree damage and some minor structural damage was observed on several properties. Extensive debris was strewn across the nearby fields just east of these structures. However, a review of locations further east showed little to no signs of visible damage from the public access points and therefore it was determined that the tornado likely lifted here.

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

8 minutes of warning. NWS ILN issued a tornado warning for this county at 04:49 UTC, 8 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 05:15 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.

Chillicothe (RZT), 15 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 80 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:59 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.