EF0 tornado, Lncster Frfld Co Arp to Pleasantville, Ohio, April 5, 2023

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.

Rating

EF0

Date

April 5, 2023

Touchdown

5:39 PM EDT (21:39 UTC)

Lifted

5:41 PM EDT (21:41 UTC)

On the ground

2 minutes

Path length

1.0 miles (1.6 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$250,000

County

Fairfield County

Touchdown point

39.804, -82.529

Lift-off point

39.809, -82.511

Record number

2304051539-01

20 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS ILN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 85 mph.

• Broken window and door, partial siding removed from home.
• Slight shift of a garage structure off the cinder block foundation.
• Partial removal of siding above the garage from a home.
• Several large tree limbs downed, with trees split in half.

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

Showers and thunderstorms overspread the region as a strong low pressure system moved through the Ohio Valley.

The first sign of tornadic damage was observed along Election House Road NW, where an outbuilding lost several metal panels from the roof. These panels were found embedded within the trees of the neighboring property across the road. Additional tree damage and light structure damage was observed there. The tornado then crossed Rainbow Drive NW, with a clear path of tree damage observed on both sides of the road. Damage of similar intensity was found on the west and east sides of Lancaster Kirkersville Rd NW. The tornado then crossed Coonpath Road NW, between Stringtown Road NW and Lancaster Kirkersville Rd NW. Additional minor structure damage was observed at several properties along Stringtown Road NW, north of Coonpath Road NE. Additional tree damage was observed along the northern portions of the Pleasant Valley Golf Course. Intensity remained weak, but a clear path of damage continued to be found along several properties on Tschopp Rd NE. The tornado then crossed Lancaster Newark Road NE with visible tree damage on both sides of the roadway. The final section of tree damage was located along Old Mill Road NE. No additional damage was observed east of this location so the tornado likely weakened and dissipated before crossing Old Millersport Road NE. Throughout the path, the intensity of the tornado did not appear to change drastically, with similarly observed damage from start to finish and maximum winds estimated to be 80 mph.

Tree and light structure damage was first observed at a property to the west of Lancaster Thornville Road NE, shortly after entering the town of Pleasantville. Due to the expansive fields southwest of town, this is believed to be the starting point for this brief and weak tornado. The tornado cut a path across South Main Street, through the southern portions of the town. Along South Main Street, lofted metal roof panels were observed scattered in nearby powerlines and trees. Farther to the east, between South Main Street and Lincoln Avenue, numerous trees were either snapped or uprooted. Light structure damage was also observed on Pleasant Court. The tornado entered nearby fields to the east of Lincoln Avenue. The final observed sign of damage was at a property south of Pleasantville Road NW, near the water tower, and this is where the tornado is believed to have dissipated. While this one mile long tornado is considered to be on the weaker side, a path of convergent damage was visible through the southern portions of Pleasantville. The strongest portion of the tornado was likely along South Main Street, with maximum estimated winds of 85 mph.

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.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 18:05 UTC and running to 22:28 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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:43 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.

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 119 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:57 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 2023 tornado in OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are

17 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.