EF1 tornado, Pricetown to Willettville, Ohio, March 3, 2023

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

March 3, 2023

Touchdown

5:26 PM EST (22:26 UTC)

Lifted

5:40 PM EST (22:40 UTC)

On the ground

14 minutes

Path length

14.2 miles (22.8 km)

Path width

400 yards (366 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$1.0 million

County

Highland County

Touchdown point

39.116, -83.818

Lift-off point

39.285, -83.668

Record number

2303031626-01

39 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS ILN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 100 mph.

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

Showers and scattered thunderstorms developed during the afternoon hours ahead of a strong low pressure system moving through the Ohio Valley.

The tornado first touched down in a field southwest of Certier Road, about three miles northeast of Buford. This tornado affected a property on Certier Road, causing significant damage to several barns, with winds estimated to 90 mph. From here, the tornado generally moved to the north-northeast.||Tree damage and minor structural damage was noted on Ruble Cemetery Road and Hollowtown Road. More significant damage was noted at a couple of properties on State Route 131. One home had an attached garage that was compromised by the wind and detached from the main structure of the house, mostly flattening the walls of the garage. Significant roof and tree damage was also found at a couple of adjacent properties. Winds here were estimated at 100 mph.||Damage north of State Route 131 was much sparser, with minor tree damage observed on Dawson Road and north of Barr Cemetery Road. A power pole was downed on Sherry Road. Overall, while the tornado did travel through mostly open fields north of State Route 131, it is likely that it weakened or briefly lifted during this time period.||A more concentrated area of damage was then observed near the intersection of Danville/Russell Road and US Route 50. While some tree damage was noted on the west side of Danville/Russell Road, more extensive damage was noted to the east. A church on the south side of US Route 50 was heavily damaged, with the majority of the east side of the roof removed. Just north of the church, an outbuilding was damaged adjacent to a stand of trees that had significant damage and snapping. Winds here were estimated at 100 mph.||Damage was again sparser north from US Route 50 until becoming more significant and widespread in Willettsville. Tree and structural damage in Willettsville was extensive, with roof damage to numerous homes and outbuildings, including one home that had a collapsed attached garage. Winds here were also estimated at 100 mph and likely over a larger area than at other locations earlier in the track of the tornado.||Minor roof and tree damage were observed as the tornado turned slightly to the right, moving northeast. A few properties had roof damage on Panhandle Road west of State Route 73. Some minor tree damage was found near State Route 73 where the tornado is believed to have dissipated.

This short-lived tornado is believed to have touched down near Panhandle Road, just west of Wolfe Road. One house on Panhandle Road had siding damage on the east-facing wall. A shed behind another home was largely demolished, with debris strewn about a quarter mile into the field to the north-northeast.||A few homes on Wolfe Road had roof and siding damage. One home even had damage to the siding on both the east and north facing walls. Some minor tree damage was observed near a bend in Wolfe Road with no additional damage observed further to the north.

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

3 minutes of warning. NWS ILN issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:23 UTC, 3 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:20 UTC and running to 00:00 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 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:59 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.

Wilmington (ILN), 25 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 25 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:26 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

21 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.