Tornadoes · United States · Ohio · 2021

EF0 tornado, Claysville, Ohio, October 16, 2021

This EF0 tornado ran 0.3 miles across Guernsey County on October 16, 2021, touching down at 3:53 AM EDT and reaching 25 yards wide. It killed nobody.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

    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 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.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
October 16, 2021
Touchdown
3:53 AM EDT (07:53 UTC)
Lifted
3:54 AM EDT (07:54 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.3 miles (0.5 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Guernsey County
Touchdown point
39.964, -81.722
Lift-off point
39.965, -81.716
Record number
2110160153-01

The damage survey

14 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS PBZ, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 95 mph.

  • Scope of tree damage here consistent with damage to farm buildings
  • Wind appears to have caught an external ventilation fan and pulled it out of the wall along with several layers of cinder block. Wind did not penetrate from the upwind side.
  • Windows broken at single-family residence consistent with degree of tree damage
  • Tree damage was consistent with the scope of damage to the roof/siding

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

What the Weather Service recorded

A lone supercell, that advanced along a cold front, formed in the early morning hours of October 16th. This cell had a history of tornadoes before tracking into eastern Ohio and western PA. The supercell was located near a mesoscale low and/or mesoscale vortex, which supported locally enhanced helicity. Furthermore, this cell was in an area of relatively stronger low-level instability. Surface dew points were favorable, low/mid 60s, prior to touch down and there were backed surface winds.

Damage along the brief path was most concentrated along Fritter |Rd, where partial removal of a barn roof occurred and a cinder-|block outbuilding was destroyed. Debris from the barn was spread |downwind across an adjacent field. Elsewhere, primarily low-end |tree damage was sustained. |Estimated Maximum Wind Speed...80 mph.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

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 air that afternoon

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.

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), 00:00Z

7.9 hours before the tornado, 146 km from the path. October 16, 2021.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 2021-10-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 138 joules per kilogram, CIN -23, lifted condensation level 1149 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 2021-10-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 111 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 38 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
138 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-23 J/kg
Surface CAPE
579 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1149 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
111 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
153 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7
0-3 km lapse rate
6.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), 12:00Z

4.1 hours after it, 146 km from the path. October 16, 2021.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2021-10-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1 joules per kilogram, CIN 0, lifted condensation level 509 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2021-10-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -195 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 49 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Surface CAPE
72 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
509 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-195 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-101 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Cambridge (CDI), 12 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
05:55 UTC65.7650° 0 kt1007.1
06:15 UTC65.7650° 0 kt1007.1
06:35 UTC65.8650° 0 kt1006.1
06:55 UTC66.265.50° 0 kt1006.1
07:15 UTC66.265.3130° 3 kt1005.4
07:35 UTC66.265.3160° 8 kt1004.7
07:55 UTC66.465.5180° 9 kt1004.4-RA
08:15 UTC65.763.7240° 10 kt191005.4-RA
08:35 UTC6360.8270° 5 kt1005.8
08:55 UTC6260250° 3 kt1005.8-RA
09:15 UTC61.7600° 0 kt1006.1-RA
09:35 UTC61.7600° 0 kt1005.8

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

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 142 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 07:51 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.

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
07:45 UTCTORNADOChandlersvilleMuskingum, OHEF1 TORNADO CONFIRMED. CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE TO FARM BUILDINGS, TREES, ROOFS AND FASCIA. DETAILS INCLUDED IN PNS.
07:51 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 S New ConcordMuskingum, OHTREES DOWN
07:53 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Nne Rix MillsGuernsey, OHLARGE TREE LIMBS WERE SNAPPED AND A TREE WAS BLOWN ACROSS FRITTER RD SOUTH OF THE TORNADO TRACK
07:53 UTCTORNADO3 Sse New ConcordGuernsey, OHA BRIEF EF0 TORNADO WAS DOCUMENTED NEAR FRITTER RD, WHERE A BARN SUSTAINED PARTIAL LOSS OF ITS ROOF STRUCTURE. DETAILS ARE INCLUDED IN A PNS.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2021 tornado in OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of October 16, 2021

4 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 163:44 AM EDTEF1Muskingum, OH1.4350
October 166:06 AM EDTEF0Beaver, PA0.950
October 166:16 AM EDTEF1Beaver, PA2.1200
October 168:08 AM EDTEF1Jefferson, PA1.226011$170,000

What this means

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.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.