Tornadoes · United States · Ohio · 2023
EF0 tornado, Gordon to Painter Creek, Ohio, March 31, 2023
From Gordon to Painter Creek, this EF0 tornado ran 5.9 miles across Darke County on March 31, 2023, touching down at 1:02 AM EDT and reaching 200 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $50,000 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 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
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
- EF0
- Date
- March 31, 2023
- Touchdown
- 1:02 AM EDT (05:02 UTC)
- Lifted
- 1:08 AM EDT (05:08 UTC)
- On the ground
- 6 minutes
- Path length
- 5.9 miles (9.5 km)
- Path width
- 200 yards (183 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $50,000
- County
- Darke County
- Touchdown point
- 39.949, -84.449
- Lift-off point
- 39.963, -84.339
- Record number
- 2303312302-03
The damage survey
26 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.
- 8350 Sugar Grove-Circle Hill
- 18ft barn pushed and roof paneling pulled up, maple trees and oak trees down.
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
Showers and thunderstorms overspread the area during the early morning hours ahead of a strong low pressure system and an associated cold front that were moving through the Ohio Valley.
The tornado first touched down near the intersection of Red River West Grove Road and Fourman Road, where mainly tree damage was observed. Some tree and barn damage occurred on Range Line Road with minor tree damage observed as far east as West Milton. Reports and photo evidence from numerous citizens in the area, in addition to emergency management officials, helped determine the extent of this tornado. Maximum wind speeds were estimated to be around 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.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 03:09 UTC and running to 05:41 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03:09 UTC | 05:41 UTC | Tornado Watch | ILN |
| 04:11 UTC | 05:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILN |
| 04:12 UTC | 05:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILN |
| 04:49 UTC | 05:16 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILN |
| 12:00 UTC | 14:12 UTC | Wind Advisory | ILN |
| 14:12 UTC | 21:26 UTC | High Wind Warning | ILN |
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 forecast that day
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 01:04 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 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.
Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), 00:00Z
5.0 hours before the tornado, 77 km from the path. April 1, 2023.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -81650 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 799 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 61 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 456 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 400 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 3.7 K/km
Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), 12:00Z
7.0 hours after it, 77 km from the path. April 1, 2023.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -79747 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 1 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1978 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 119 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 247 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 191 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.7 K/km
The surface observations
Dayton (DAY), 16 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03:05 UTC | 24 | 1002 | ||||
| 03:10 UTC | 1001.7 | |||||
| 03:15 UTC | 1001.7 | |||||
| 03:20 UTC | 1001 | |||||
| 03:25 UTC | 180° 20 kt | 1001 | ||||
| 03:30 UTC | 24 | 1000.7 | ||||
| 03:31 UTC | 62 | 55 | 190° 19 kt | 27 | 1000.7 | |
| 03:35 UTC | 1000.3 | |||||
| 03:40 UTC | 1000.3 | |||||
| 03:45 UTC | 22 | 1000.3 | ||||
| 03:50 UTC | 20 kt | 26 | 1000 | |||
| 03:55 UTC | 19 kt | 1000 | ||||
| 03:56 UTC | 62 | 56 | 190° 19 kt | 30 | 1000 | |
| 04:00 UTC | 999.7 | |||||
| 04:05 UTC | 999.7 | |||||
| 04:10 UTC | 190° 17 kt | 1000 | -RA | |||
| 04:15 UTC | 190° 16 kt | 1000.3 | RA | |||
| 04:20 UTC | 62 | 57 | 190° 22 kt | 28 | 1000 | +TSRA |
| 04:20 UTC | 28 | 1000 | +RA | |||
| 04:25 UTC | 1000 | +RA BR | ||||
| 04:30 UTC | 22 | 999.7 | -RA BR | |||
| 04:35 UTC | 23 | 999.3 | -RA | |||
| 04:40 UTC | 61 | 57 | 180° 24 kt | 30 | 999 | TSRA |
| 04:40 UTC | 30 | 999 | RA | |||
| 04:45 UTC | 30 | 997.6 | RA BR | |||
| 04:50 UTC | 23 kt | 30 | 998.3 | -RA BR | ||
| 04:55 UTC | 34 | 998.3 | -RA | |||
| 04:56 UTC | 62 | 58 | 190° 26 kt | 36 | 998 | -TSRA |
| 05:00 UTC | 29 | 998 | ||||
| 05:05 UTC | 37 | 998.6 | -RA | |||
| 05:10 UTC | 999.3 | -RA | ||||
| 05:15 UTC | 210° 30 kt | 42 | 999.3 | RA | ||
| 05:20 UTC | 37 | 1001.7 | -RA | |||
| 05:20 UTC | 61 | 55 | 270° 32 kt | 60 | 1001.7 | -RA |
| 05:25 UTC | 1001.7 | -RA | ||||
| 05:30 UTC | 1001.4 | -RA | ||||
| 05:35 UTC | 1001.4 | -RA | ||||
| 05:40 UTC | 1001.7 | -RA | ||||
| 05:45 UTC | 1001.7 | -RA | ||||
| 05:50 UTC | 270° 14 kt | 1001.7 | -RA | |||
| 05:55 UTC | 270° 13 kt | 1002 | -RA | |||
| 05:56 UTC | 57 | 52 | 270° 14 kt | 1002 | -RA | |
| 06:00 UTC | 1002 | -RA | ||||
| 06:05 UTC | 260° 11 kt | 1002.4 | -RA | |||
| 06:10 UTC | 1002.4 | -RA | ||||
| 06:15 UTC | 260° 11 kt | 1002.4 | -RA | |||
| 06:20 UTC | 270° 11 kt | 1002.4 | -RA | |||
| 06:25 UTC | 22 | 1002.4 | -RA | |||
| 06:30 UTC | 1002.4 | -RA | ||||
| 06:35 UTC | 1002 | -RA | ||||
| 06:40 UTC | 1002 | -RA | ||||
| 06:45 UTC | 260° 11 kt | 1001.4 | -RA | |||
| 06:50 UTC | 260° 9 kt | 1001 | -RA | |||
| 06:55 UTC | 250° 10 kt | 1001 | -RA | |||
| 06:56 UTC | 56 | 51 | 250° 10 kt | 1001 | ||
| 07:00 UTC | 240° 9 kt | 1001 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 77 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:00 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04:35 UTC | TSTM WND GST 48 | Koxd Oxford Miami Apt | Butler, OH | |
| 04:45 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 2 N Osgood | Mercer, OH | 80 MPH EF0 TORNADO CONFIRMED NEAR MINSTER OH. |
| 04:46 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 N Osgood | Mercer, OH | REPORT OF DAMAGE TO MULTIPLE BARNS, DEBRIS IN FIELD. TIME EST FROM RADAR. |
| 04:47 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Ene New Paris | Preble, OH | ROOF OFF BUILDING, GARAGE DOORS BLOWN IN, POWER POLES SNAPPED |
| 04:47 UTC | NON-TSTM WND GST 48 | Middletown | Butler, OH | |
| 04:47 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 1 Ene New Paris | Preble, OH | AN EF0 BRIEFLY TOUCHED DOWN IN NEW PARIS, OH, CAUSING SCATTERED TREE DAMAGE AND STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO SEVERAL BARNS. MAXIMUM ESTIMATED WINDS WERE 85 MPH. |
| 04:52 UTC | TSTM WND GST 51 | Kves Versailles Apt | Darke, OH | |
| 04:55 UTC | TSTM WND GST 51 | Ki68 Lebanon Apt | Warren, OH | |
| 05:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Nnw Pleasant Hill | Miami, OH | TREES DOWN AND BARN DAMAGE |
| 05:01 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 4 Wsw Pleasant Hill | Miami, OH | 85 MPH EF0 TORNADO CONFIRMED NEAR TROY OH. |
| 05:02 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 2 Wsw Potsdam | Darke, OH | 80 MPH EF0 TORNADO CONFIRMED WEST OF WEST MILTON OH. |
| 05:02 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 3 Wnw Pleasant Hill | Miami, OH | 80 MPH EF0 TORNADO CONFIRMED NEAR PLEASANT HILL OH. |
| 05:03 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Nnw Pleasant Hill | Miami, OH | 3 TREES DOWN INCLUDING ONE THROUGH BEDROOM WINDOW. LIKELY TORNADO. |
| 05:03 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 W West Milton | Miami, OH | BARN ROOF BLOWN IN AND POWER POLES SNAPPED. |
| 05:03 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 Wsw West Milton | Miami, OH | SIGNICANT PROPERTY DAMAGE WITH FIRE DEPARTMENT RESPONSE ON SCENE. |
| 05:04 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 Nw West Milton | Miami, OH | MINOR ROOF DAMAGE TO A HOUSE AND AN OUTBUILDING WAS DAMAGED. A BARN WALL WAS ALSO BLOWN IN. |
| 05:04 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Ese Pleasant Hill | Miami, OH | ROOF BLOWN OFF BARN. LOTS OF DAMAGE TO MULTIPLE PROPERTIES AS WELL. |
| 05:04 UTC | TSTM WND GST 47 | Kaxv Wapakoneta Apt | Auglaize, OH | |
| 05:10 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 6 Nnw Tipp City | Miami, OH | 6 INCH DIAMETER TREE DOWN. TIME FROM RADAR |
| 05:13 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 N Troy | Miami, OH | SMALL TREES DOWN, BARN AND FENCE DESTROYED. |
| 05:15 UTC | TSTM WND GST 51 | Kmwo Middletown Apt | Butler, OH | |
| 05:15 UTC | NON-TSTM WND GST 46 | Ki19 Xenia Apt | Greene, OH | |
| 05:17 UTC | TSTM WND GST 69 | Kday Dayton Cox Apt | Montgomery, OH | |
| 05:18 UTC | TSTM WND GST 50 | Kmgy Wright Bros Apt | Montgomery, OH | |
| 05:22 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 S Christiansburg | Champaign, OH | MULTIPLE TREES KNOCKED DOWN. MINOR SHINGLE DAMAGE TO HOME. |
| 05:28 UTC | TSTM WND GST 47 | Kffo Wright-Patt Afb | Greene, OH | |
| 05:33 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Ssw Urbana | Champaign, OH | PINE TREES SNAPPED AND DAMAGE TO A ROOF |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2023 tornado in OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of March 31, 2023
126 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 31 | 2:18 PM CDT | EF3 | Little Rock tornado, AR | 34.2 | 800 | 54 | $90 million | |
| March 31 | 2:37 PM CDT | Unrated | Tazewell, IL | 0.3 | 10 | |||
| March 31 | 3:15 PM CDT | EF1 | Tazewell, IL | 0.9 | 10 | |||
| March 31 | 3:23 PM CDT | Unrated | Woodford, IL | 0.6 | 20 | |||
| March 31 | 3:36 PM CDT | EF3 | Wapello, IA | 26.1 | 1,000 | $2.0 million | ||
| March 31 | 3:45 PM CDT | EF1 | Prairie, AR | 1.1 | 100 | |||
| March 31 | 3:52 PM CDT | Unrated | Poweshiek, IA | 3.6 | 60 | |||
| March 31 | 4:05 PM CDT | Unrated | Livingston, IL | 0.0 | 15 | |||
| March 31 | 4:10 PM CDT | EF4 | Keota–Wellman tornado, IA | 19.9 | 700 | 3 | ||
| March 31 | 4:22 PM CDT | EF1 | Grundy, IA | 3.5 | 80 | $50,000 | ||
| March 31 | 4:22 PM CDT | EF1 | Grundy, IA | 4.1 | 80 | $50,000 | ||
| March 31 | 4:30 PM CDT | EF3 | Wynne–Parkin tornado, Arkansas and Tennessee | 72.5 | 1,600 | 4 | 26 | $151 million |
| March 31 | 4:36 PM CDT | EF2 | Benton, IA | 1.7 | 50 | |||
| March 31 | 4:37 PM CDT | EF0 | Johnson, IA | 6.1 | 50 | |||
| March 31 | 4:46 PM CDT | EF2 | Johnson, IA | 16.9 | 75 | 2 | ||
| March 31 | 4:47 PM CDT | EF2 | Benton, IA | 4.9 | 50 | |||
| March 31 | 4:49 PM CDT | EF2 | Stone, AR | 6.8 | 125 | |||
| March 31 | 4:51 PM CDT | Unrated | Benton, IA | 1.4 | 10 | |||
| March 31 | 4:53 PM CDT | EF2 | Johnson, IA | 14.7 | 100 | |||
| March 31 | 5:03 PM CDT | Unrated | Buchanan, IA | 1.7 | 10 | |||
| March 31 | 5:06 PM CDT | EF2 | Johnson, IA | 9.0 | 75 | |||
| March 31 | 5:06 PM CDT | EF1 | Cedar, IA | 8.3 | 10 | |||
| March 31 | 5:14 PM CDT | EF2 | Cedar, IA | 16.4 | 250 | |||
| March 31 | 5:15 PM CDT | Unrated | Scott, IL | 0.5 | 10 | |||
| March 31 | 5:17 PM CDT | EF1 | Cedar, IA | 5.2 | 100 | |||
| March 31 | 5:18 PM CDT | EF2 | Cedar, IA | 19.6 | 200 | 2 | ||
| March 31 | 5:20 PM CDT | EF1 | Delaware, IA | 4.1 | 50 | |||
| March 31 | 5:27 PM CDT | Unrated | Morgan, IL | 0.7 | 10 | |||
| March 31 | 5:32 PM CDT | EF1 | Delaware, IA | 11.1 | 90 | |||
| March 31 | 5:35 PM CDT | EF0 | Morgan, IL | 1.1 | 30 | |||
| March 31 | 5:41 PM CDT | EF1 | Jones, IA | 1.4 | 50 | |||
| March 31 | 5:41 PM CDT | EF2 | Des Moines, IA | 0.9 | 150 | |||
| March 31 | 5:48 PM CDT | EF3 | Covington tornado, TN | 39.2 | 2,000 | 1 | 28 | $80 million |
| March 31 | 5:50 PM CDT | EF2 | Clinton, IA | 18.0 | 350 | 1 | ||
| March 31 | 5:58 PM CDT | EF1 | Jackson, IA | 1.2 | 50 | |||
| March 31 | 6:09 PM CDT | EF0 | Jackson, IA | 0.2 | 15 | |||
| March 31 | 6:12 PM CDT | EF2 | Sangamon, IL | 5.4 | 400 | |||
| March 31 | 6:16 PM CDT | EF1 | Jackson, IA to IL | 1.9 | 100 | 3 | ||
| March 31 | 6:18 PM CDT | EF2 | Sangamon, IL | 21.0 | 200 | |||
| March 31 | 6:24 PM CDT | EF2 | Henry, IL | 3.5 | 300 | |||
| March 31 | 6:33 PM CDT | EF2 | Henry, IL | 3.0 | 200 | |||
| March 31 | 6:36 PM CDT | EF2 | Henry, IL | 9.3 | 440 | |||
| March 31 | 6:37 PM CDT | EF2 | Henry, IL | 6.8 | 650 | |||
| March 31 | 6:39 PM CDT | EF1 | Carroll, IL | 1.0 | 50 | |||
| March 31 | 6:47 PM CDT | EF0 | Macoupin, IL | 6.3 | 150 | $25,000 | ||
| March 31 | 6:48 PM CDT | EF1 | Whiteside, IL | 13.9 | 150 | |||
| March 31 | 6:48 PM CDT | EF1 | Iowa, WI | 1.1 | 75 | $300,000 | ||
| March 31 | 6:50 PM CDT | EF1 | Lafayette, WI | 5.5 | 75 | $1.0 million | ||
| March 31 | 6:50 PM CDT | EF1 | Carroll, IL | 11.0 | 200 | |||
| March 31 | 6:55 PM CDT | EF1 | Lafayette, WI | 6.6 | 75 | $600,000 | ||
| March 31 | 7:03 PM CDT | Unrated | Phillips, AR | 2.8 | 100 | |||
| March 31 | 7:06 PM CDT | EF0 | Christian, IL | 4.1 | 20 | |||
| March 31 | 7:08 PM CDT | EF2 | Lee, IL | 9.3 | 350 | |||
| March 31 | 7:13 PM CDT | EF1 | Lee, IL | 7.8 | 75 | |||
| March 31 | 7:13 PM CDT | EF1 | Christian, IL | 1.7 | 30 | |||
| March 31 | 7:16 PM CDT | EF0 | Green, WI | 3.0 | 75 | $400,000 | ||
| March 31 | 7:20 PM CDT | EF1 | Green, WI | 10.2 | 50 | $600,000 | ||
| March 31 | 7:24 PM CDT | EF1 | Ogle, IL | 27.5 | 600 | 1 | 40 | |
| March 31 | 7:26 PM CDT | EF0 | Green, WI | 5.8 | 75 | $400,000 | ||
| March 31 | 7:31 PM CDT | EF1 | Winnebago, IL | 5.8 | 300 |
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.