EF1 tornado, Bergholz to Steubenville Pier Ar, 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 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

July 29, 2021

Touchdown

5:45 PM EDT (21:45 UTC)

Lifted

5:52 PM EDT (21:52 UTC)

On the ground

7 minutes

Path length

2.3 miles (3.7 km)

Path width

300 yards (274 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$250,000

County

Jefferson County

Touchdown point

40.372, -80.743

Lift-off point

40.347, -80.714

Record number

2107291545-01

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 that a second tornado |formed approximately on the Carroll and Jefferson County line, a |little over two miles north-northwest of Bergholz, Ohio. It is |possible that this second tornado formed inside Carroll County, |but could not be confirmed due to limited access. ||Damage from this tornado was exclusively to trees, although a |residence at the intersection of TR263 and Valleyview Dr suffered |minor exterior damage caused from falling limbs and powerlines. |Drone footage from a densely wooded area northwest of Bergholz |indicated scattered to occasionally numerous downed trees which |were uprooted, snapped and splintered along a focused and |convergent path. Tree damage became more sporadic as the tornado |finally dissipated across the extreme southwest portion of |Bergholz along Washington St.||Given the coverage and damage that occurred to both hard and |softwood trees along the damage path, a higher end EF-1 rating is |assigned to this tornado, with a maximum wind speed of 105 MPH.

An EF-1 tornado, observed by photograph and confirmed via damage |survey, began near Highway 22 immediately to the northwest of |Wintersville, Ohio. Tree and minor roof damage were first observed|along Caravel Place and Harmony Drive.||The tornado continued southeast through the west side of |Wintersville, producing damage to numerous properties along Bantam|Ridge Road, while becoming stronger and wider. Moderate damage |was sustained to a single-family residence at the corner of Murphy|Rd. A complete loss of an attached garage, partial loss of the |roof, and extensive damage to fencing and trees were also |observed. In addition, a 2x4 was found pierced through a church |exterior wall two properties south, and signage from the church |was found upstream on the residential property. ||Approximately one half mile to the southeast, a second single- |family residence was found to have suffered partial roof loss from|uplifting, in addition to having numerous soft and hard-wood |trees snapped or uprooted. Metal roofing from the aformentioned |property was found deposited on this property as well. An exterior|shed was also overturned. The maximum damage rating for this |tornado was assigned at this location, with a wind speed of 95 MPH estimated.||Scattered damage to trees, either uprooted or with large branches|snapped, continued approximately one mile to the southeast, along|with minor roof shingle damage. The tornado appears to have |dissipated prior to intersecting Fernwood Rd., and is consistent |with radar signatures.

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

6 minutes of warning. NWS PBZ issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:39 UTC, 6 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:00 UTC.

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.

Wheeling/Ohio Co. (HLG), 22 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 47 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:45 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.