EF0 tornado, Villa Nova to Uniopolis, Ohio, March 31, 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

March 31, 2023

Touchdown

12:45 AM EDT (04:45 UTC)

Lifted

12:53 AM EDT (04:53 UTC)

On the ground

8 minutes

Path length

8.4 miles (13.5 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$100,000

Counties

Mercer and Auglaize counties

Touchdown point

40.365, -84.500

Lift-off point

40.410, -84.353

Record number

2303312245-01

27 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 105 mph.

• Minor roof damage to two houses. A outbuilding blown over.
• Grain bin gone. Barn building collapse.
• Tree across field, swirling dirt. Start of tor.

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 area during the late evening hours ahead of a strong low pressure system and an associated cold front moving through the Ohio Valley.

Aerial pictures provided by the Auglaize County Emergency Management Agency indicated that the tornado likely began near Koenig and Noble Roads, where barn and tree damage was first noted. Shingles were also lifted off the roof of a home on Koenig Road and roof debris was blown behind the home. Aerial footage indicated the tornado moved to the northeast with debris noted in multiple fields. An outbuilding was destroyed near the Easterly Road and State Route 116 intersection. Multiple hog barns and a farmstead were destroyed along the path, with winds estimated to be 85 mph at peak intensity. The tornado likely lifted or dissipated around or north of Barber Werner Road and no additional tornado damage was evident to the northeast of here.

The tornado first touched down near Indian Trail Road and State Route 716. The tornado tracked east-northeast and crossed into Auglaize County near the intersection of State Route 364 and Minster Egypt Pike at 2348EST. The tornado continued northeast into Auglaize County before lifting near Bensman Road at 2353EST. Occasional tree and minor structural damage was noted along its path.

The tornado initially touched down at 2345EST in Mercer County near the intersection of Indian Trail Road and State Route 716 and crossed into Auglaize County near the intersection of State Route 364 and Minster Egypt Pike at 2348EST. The tornado continued northeast and crossed through the north end of Minster before lifting near Bensman Road. Tree and structural damage was noted with some of the most significant structural damage done to barns near Egypt.

The first sign of visible damage associated with this tornado occurred on Owl Creek Road. At one residence, two large trees were knocked down while a barn was destroyed at another residence. The tornado strengthened as it moved to the northeast, removing a significant portion of a warehouse building roof and snapping several power poles. Just northeast of here, a large commercial greenhouse was completely leveled. The tornado then crossed the intersection of U.S. 33 and Interstate 75, causing significant roof damage and partial exterior wall collapse to an industrial building. At this point, the tornado was at its strongest with estimated winds of up to 110 mph.||On the east side of Interstate 75 and just north of U.S. 33, a truck stop experienced significant damage and a few semi-trailers were blown over. Just northeast of here, a private campground suffered significant damage. At the campsite, numerous trailers were flipped over and a large meeting hall had its roof removed. Several trees were also knocked down. Seven people were injured when the trailers were flipped at the campground.||As the tornado continued northeast, several farmhouses were damaged and outbuildings were damaged or destroyed between Wapakoneta and Uniopolis, particularly along Middle Pike. Considerable debris was noted in nearby fields. A historic brick school building was also destroyed on Brown Road. Numerous trees were also snapped and uprooted along the path. Sporadic damage to trees and outbuildings continued to the northeast before the tornado apparently lifted near the Auglaize/Allen County line.||This tornado started at 2354 EST, March 31st, 2023 and ended at 0007 EST, April 1st, 2023. The injuries occurred just before midnight EST so were included in the March 2023 Storm Data for Ohio, Southwest.

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

1 minute of warning. NWS ILN issued a tornado warning for this county at 04:44 UTC, 1 minute before the tornado touched down, in force until 04:51 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 03:09 UTC and running to 05:41 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 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 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.

Wapakoneta (AXV), 16 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 119 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:43 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

126 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 127 of them

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.