EF2 tornado, Watheys to Wattsville, Ohio, July 29, 2021

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

July 29, 2021

Touchdown

4:59 PM EDT (20:59 UTC)

Lifted

5:11 PM EDT (21:11 UTC)

On the ground

12 minutes

Path length

6.2 miles (9.9 km)

Path width

150 yards (137 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$500,000

Crop damage

$10,000

County

Carroll County

Touchdown point

40.627, -80.995

Lift-off point

40.549, -80.938

Record number

2107291459-01

A shortwave passage during the morning of July 29th spread mainly non-severe showers and thunderstorms across the region during the morning and midday hours. However, a discrete cell along the back edge of the morning activity was able to develop an EF1 tornado in Pennsylvania along the Fayette-Westmoreland County border. This was a preview of what was to follow. ||In the wake of this morning activity, instability was able to build as partial clearing occurred. Additional thunderstorms were able to develop in association with a prefrontal trough. These storms were able to take advantage of deep shear, especially in the lower levels. A cross-boundary component to this shear allowed discrete supercells to form during the mid and late afternoon hours. Storm motions were favorable for the ingestion of streamwise vorticity, allowing for rotating storms, and the development of additional tornadoes in southwest Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. In all, four torndoes formed in eastern Ohio. Two of these were rated at EF-2, thanks to impressive examples of tree and structural damage at peak intensity. Thankfully, no injuries were reported. A few other reports of hail and damaging wind were received as well.

A ground and aerial drone survey confirmed two distinct and |adjacent tornadoes, which were spawned from a supercell |thunderstorm that tracked southeast across Washington and Lee |Townships in Carroll County, Ohio...and then into Springfield and |Ross Townships in Jefferson County, Ohio. These findings are |consistent with two hook echoes/rotational couplets on NWS Doppler|Radar in Pittsburgh.||This section outlines the first tornado track across Carroll |County. The tornado touched down at approximately 4:59pm along |Channel Rd NE and Cobbler Rd, where damage to a farm residence, |wood-framed metal roof shed, and crops were observed. Some damage |indicators included flattening of corn, blown-out windows, and a |wind-toppled chimney.||Several trees were blown down along Parma Rd, as the tornado |continued to the south-southeast.||The tornado then proceeded over rural, hilly woodland west of |Cinder Road (aka CR67). To further inspect glimpses of embedded |tree damage, a drone was launched from a gas well access road, and|discovered a long, continuous path of extensive tree damage. A |several hundred yard section along one of the hill peaks was |nearly completely deforested with hundreds of large trees |completely snapped and uprooted. An EF-2 rating was assigned to |this area, with a maximum estimated wind of 120 MPH.||The tornado continued downhill toward the gas well site, with the|last tree damage observed just prior to reaching Bay Rd. As this |tornado rapidly dissipated, a second tornado formed approximately |1 mile to the east-southeast.

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

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 19:16 UTC and running to 00:39 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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:53 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.

New Philadelphia (PHD), 41 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 64 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:59 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 2021 tornado in OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are

36 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.