Tornadoes · United States · Ohio · 2023

EF1 tornado, Hicksville, Ohio, July 29, 2023

Name: EF1 tornado, Hicksville, Ohio, July 29, 2023
Start: 2023-07-29T06:53:00.000Z
End: 2023-07-29T06:54:00.000Z
Location: Hicksville, Ohio

This EF1 tornado ran 0.7 miles across Defiance County on July 29, 2023, touching down at 2:53 AM EDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $55,000 of property damage.

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.

EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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: EF1
Date: July 29, 2023
Touchdown: 2:53 AM EDT (06:53 UTC)
Lifted: 2:54 AM EDT (06:54 UTC)
On the ground: 1 minutes
Path length: 0.7 miles (1.1 km)
Path width: 100 yards (91 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $55,000
County: Defiance County
Touchdown point: 41.327, -84.794
Lift-off point: 41.331, -84.782
Record number: 2307290053-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Storms developed along a stalled frontal boundary on the evening of July 28th. These storms developed in clusters and were slow moving with heavy rain. They also produced sporadic wind damage across northwest Ohio. An EF1 tornado also occurred in Defiance County.

A ground and drone servey revelaed a tornado touched down at a property west of Casebeer Miller Road and north of Buckskin Raod, and tracked quickly to the northeast, crossing about a third of a mile north of Buckskin Road before dissipating in an area of trees. Several trees were snapped or uprooted, with three barns suffering minor to major damage as well as one home suffering damage to a roof and pool deck. Maximum wind speeds are estimated up to 90 mph.

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

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Northern Indiana wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Jul 29, 1:40 AM EDT, 1 hour 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 29, 1:40 AM EDT, 1 hour 13 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Northern Indiana
140 AM EDT Sat Jul 29 2023

.SYNOPSIS...
Issued at 140 AM EDT Sat Jul 29 2023

Scattered showers and thunderstorms, some strong to severe, will
continue overnight with locally heavy rain and damaging winds
possible.

Drier and cooler weather will then overspread the area this
weekend as high pressure builds into the Midwest and Upper Great
Lakes.

&&

.SHORT TERM...(This afternoon and Tonight)
Issued at 200 PM EDT Fri Jul 28 2023

Cloud debris from morning MCS slow to decay this morning but
accelerating this aftn as MCV progresses into wrn OH. Sfc temps have
naturally been slow to respond but aftn insolation/mixing will yield
rapid rebound with low 90s southwest to tempered upper 80s
northeast. Will drop prior heat advisory east and north yet retain
southwest for this evening.

Otherwise primary question remains with convective redevelopment
late day and especially overnight. 17Z sfc analysis shows well
demarcated outflow boundary extending from cntrl IL into srn IN
before bucking back north as a warm front through IA. Expect wrn
flank of outflow will mix north through evening while ern flank
moves little with potential redevelopment invof the US30 corridor
late this aftn with noted pocket of aggravated cu over ne IL earlier.
Nevertheless northeast IA through nrn IL vcnty appears most
susceptible for vigorous storm development by evening with rapid
upscale growth/organization ese along sharp low level theta-e ridge
tonight. 12Z guidance as a whole looks too far north with track of
this expected MCS with a swd tilt favored which would steer it
directly through cntr of the CWA mid to late evening with a
commensurate heavy rain/damaging wind risk esp wrn half. Secondary
MCS likely to evolve up across srn MN/wrn WI ewd of stout shortwave
disturbance advancing east out of ND and track se late tonight,
tracking through at least nrn CWA. Expected separation of these two
systems would mitigate a certain flood potential yet there could be
some overlap north of US30 which bears close scrutiny once lead
system shows its hand later this evening.

Will defer any possible flood watch to the next shift as 12Z guidance
spread lends no confidence to the above scenario.

&&

.LONG TERM...(Saturday through Thursday)
Issued at 200 PM EDT Fri Jul 28 2023

A few showers possible within swd progressing cold front Sat morning
into early aftn southeast otherwise notable drying and cooler temps
follow through mid week as high pressure builds in across the Great
Lakes.

&&

.AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Saturday Night)
Issued at 132 AM EDT Sat Jul 29 2023

Timed storms through KSBN ending around 07 UTC and 09 UTC at KFWA
as convective linear system sweeps eastward through northern
Indiana. Convection associated with northwest flow shortwave
impinging along east to west frontal boundary through northern
Indiana. In wake, of shortwave passage, frontal boundary will
accelerate southward and reach the Ohio River by late this
afternoon. VFR conditions emerge behind convection with surface
flow turning northwest to north as frontal boundary sags south.

&&

.IWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
IN...NONE.
MI...NONE.
OH...NONE.
LM...NONE.
&&

SYNOPSIS...Murphy
SHORT TERM...T
LONG TERM...T
AVIATION...Murphy

Visit us at www.weather.gov/iwx

Follow us on Facebook...Twitter...and YouTube at:
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 28, 3:27 PM EDT, 11 hours 26 minutes before

Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Northern Indiana
327 PM EDT Fri Jul 28 2023

INZ005>009-012-014-017-018-024>027-032>034-103-104-116-203-204-216-
MIZ078>081-177-277-OHZ001-002-004-005-015-016-024-025-290900-
Elkhart-Lagrange-Steuben-Noble-De Kalb-Starke-Marshall-Whitley-
Allen IN-Wabash-Huntington-Wells-Adams-Grant-Blackford-Jay-
Northern La Porte-Eastern St. Joseph IN-Northern Kosciusko-
Southern La Porte-Western St. Joseph IN-Southern Kosciusko-Cass MI-
St. Joseph MI-Branch-Hillsdale-Northern Berrien-Southern Berrien-
Williams-Fulton OH-Defiance-Henry-Paulding-Putnam-Van Wert-Allen OH-
327 PM EDT Fri Jul 28 2023 /227 PM CDT Fri Jul 28 2023/

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for northern Indiana, southwest
Michigan and northwest Ohio.

.DAY ONE...This afternoon and tonight.

Thunderstorms are expected to redevelop late this afternoon and
become numerous by late evening with a threat for damaging winds and
perhaps some isolated hail early this evening west of I-69.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday.

The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation may be need later this evening.

INZ013-015-020-022-023-290900-
Pulaski-Fulton IN-White-Cass IN-Miami-
327 PM EDT Fri Jul 28 2023

...HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM EDT THIS EVENING...

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for northern Indiana.

.DAY ONE...This afternoon and tonight.

Please listen to NOAA Weather Radio or go to weather.gov on the
Internet for more information about the following hazards.

   Heat Advisory.

A Heat Advisory is in effect until midnight EDT or 11 PM CDT
tonight. The combination of hot temperatures and high humidity will
combine to create heat indices from 100 to 105 degrees. For full
details listen to NOAA Weather Radio or visit online at
weather.gov/IWX for more information.

Thunderstorms are expected to redevelop late this afternoon and
become numerous by late evening with a threat for damaging winds and
perhaps some isolated hail early this evening west of I-69.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday.

The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation is not expected at this time.

LMZ043-046-290900-
New Buffalo MI to St Joseph MI-Michigan City IN to New Buffalo MI-
327 PM EDT Fri Jul 28 2023

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the nearshore waters of
southeastern Lake Michigan.

.DAY ONE...This afternoon and tonight.

Thunderstorms are likely overnight with a risk for wind gusts in
excess of 50 knots.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday.

No hazardous weather is expected at this time.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 29, 2:25 AM EDT, 28 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Northern Indiana
225 AM EDT Sat Jul 29 2023

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0219 AM     Tstm Wnd Gst     2 S Grissom Afb         40.63N 86.15W
07/29/2023  M74 MPH          Miami              IN   AWOS

            AWOS station KGUS Grissom AFB Peru.

&&

MJ

Local storm report, Jul 29, 2:41 AM EDT, 12 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jul 29, 2:42 AM EDT, 11 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Northern Indiana
242 AM EDT Sat Jul 29 2023

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0130 AM     Tstm Wnd Dmg     Plymouth                41.35N 86.32W
07/29/2023                   Marshall           IN   Emergency Mngr

            Tree down along North Michigan Street in
            Plymouth. Time estimated from radar.

&&

MJ

Local storm report, Jul 29, 2:45 AM EDT, 8 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Northern Indiana
245 AM EDT Sat Jul 29 2023

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0242 AM     Tstm Wnd Dmg     1 N Wallen              41.18N 85.17W
07/29/2023                   Allen              IN   Public

            Trees down in the parking lot of this store.

&&

CR

Local storm report, Jul 29, 2:48 AM EDT, 5 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Northern Indiana
248 AM EDT Sat Jul 29 2023

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0240 AM     Rain             4 ENE Woodland          41.57N 86.11W
07/29/2023  M2.89 inch       St. Joseph         IN   Public

            Since midnight. 3.19 since storms started.

&&

CR

Local storm report, Jul 29, 2:52 AM EDT, 1 minute before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Northern Indiana
252 AM EDT Sat Jul 29 2023

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0236 AM     Tstm Wnd Dmg     3 NNE Lake Everett      41.19N 85.29W
07/29/2023                   Allen              IN   Amateur Radio

            Powerlines down at US 33 and Carroll Rd.

&&

MJ

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.

Detroit, MI (KDTX), 00:00Z

6.9 hours before the tornado, 191 km from the path. July 29, 2023.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

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: 1131 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -17 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 2162 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1189 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 31 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 1 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 34 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: -0.0
Supercell composite: -0.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 7.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Detroit, MI (KDTX), 12:00Z

5.1 hours after it, 191 km from the path. July 29, 2023.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

Mixed-layer CAPE: 55 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -4 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 331 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 611 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 31 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 4 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 91 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

Auburn (GWB), 23 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
00:00 UTC

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

The radar

The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 76 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 06:55 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.

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2023 tornado in Ohio Every tornado in Ohio since 1950 Warnings in force in Ohio now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of July 29, 2023

7 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
July 29	2:19 AM EDT	EF0	Cass, IN	2.1	50
July 29	2:26 AM EDT	EF0	Whitley, IN	2.7	150	$60,000
July 29	4:58 AM EDT	EF1	Crawford, OH	6.5	100	$230,000
July 29	6:53 AM CDT	EF1	Clay, NE	1.6	260	$750,000
July 29	8:18 AM CDT	EF1	Lancaster, NE	0.3	100
July 29	5:30 PM MDT	Unrated	Adams, CO	0.0	25
July 29	8:17 PM EDT	EF1	Norfolk, MA	0.2	25	$5,000

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.