EF3 Indian Lake tornado, Ohio, March 14, 2024

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 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 mphthis tornado

   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

EF3

Date

March 14, 2024

Touchdown

7:29 PM EDT (23:29 UTC)

Lifted

8:16 PM EDT (00:16 UTC)

On the ground

47 minutes

Path length

31.3 miles (50.4 km)

Path width

1,000 yards (914 m)

Deaths

3

Injuries

27

Property damage

$6.0 million

Counties

Auglaize and Logan counties

Touchdown point

40.519, -84.166

Lift-off point

40.393, -83.592

Record number

2403141729-01

313 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS ILN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EFU. The highest wind the damage implies is 155 mph.

• photo credit: Auglaize County EMA/CERT
• Photo source: Auglaize County EMA/CERT
• photo source: Auglaize County EMA/CERT
• Ended in field east of point

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

Thunderstorms developed in an unseasonably warm and humid airmass ahead of an approaching cold front.

The tornado began immediately east of Interstate 75, south of Wapakoneta, where it damaged a farm on the west side of Cemetery Road. Video shared on social media showed the tornado rapidly strengthened west of Glacier Hill Lakes RV Resort, causing significant damage to a grove of trees west of the resort. After crossing a field, the tornado moved through the center of the resort, lofting campers and snapping trees. Two individuals at the resort suffered injuries that required hospitalization. The tornado continued eastward toward Wapak-Freyburg Road and caused significant damage to the Resort clubhouse and residential homes on the west side of the road. The collective damage done to the trees and buildings within this corridor of damage justified wind estimates of 140 mph, EF-3. The tornado moved into an open field east of Wapak-Freyburg Road at an unknown intensity. ||Three-tenths of a mile south of Pusheta Road, the tornado caused significant tree damage to three separate groves of trees as it neared Town Line Road. Aerial images provided by the Auglaize County EMA/CERT confirmed the tornado was still strong, at least EF-2 strength, south of Pusheta Road. The tornado likely remained fairly strong as it impacted homes and outbuildings along Town Line Road, Ashburn Road, and Geyer Road. A brief weakening period, or narrowing of the tornado was observed near Geyer, where the tornado remained mainly over open fields. ||The next period of intensification occurred between State Route 65 and Valley Road. Damage to a few homes and outbuildings, along with significant damage to a few groves of trees confirmed this period of intensification. The tornado began to make a more significant southeast turn between Wrestle Creek Road and Valley Road. The strong, likely EF2 tornado continued to move southeastward and entered Logan County at 1843EST, just north of Santa Fe. ||The tornado continued east-southeast across much of Logan County before ending at 1916EST, 3 miles west-southwest of West Mansfield.

The tornado began in Auglaize County at 1829EST, 3 miles north of Botkins and moved east-southeast, entering Logan County at 1843EST, just north of Santa Fe. Areas of signifincant tree damage occurred along the path of the tornado across northwest Logan County. ||The tornado strengthened as it approached the village of Lakeview, producing severe damage over much of the Lakeview area, beginning along Pine Street and Poplar Court. On Poplar Court, one single family residence was destroyed, with all walls collapsed. A corridor of severe damage continued directly southeast across Main Street, where wall collapse was noted along one business building and another well built construction was destroyed. Another single family home on North Oak Street, just to the east of U.S. Route 33 and west of Indian Lake, also had all walls collapsed from the tornado. The most significant damage occurred along this stretch of Lakeview, with maximum winds estimated to be up to 155 mph, or EF-3. The width of the tornado was a half mile at this point. Three fatalities and 25 injuries occurred in the Lakeview area. ||Damage, primarily of EF-2 magnitude, continued southeast of Lakeview, affecting areas near U.S. Route 33 and State Route 366. The survey team noted roofs removed from single family homes, several outbuildings destroyed and also destruction of numerous manufactured homes. One business near the intersection of U.S. Route 33 and Township Highway 239 had total wall collapse, indicative of 140 mph winds, or low end EF-3 damage. ||The tornado then crossed a portion of Indian Lake and moved across Orchard Island. Numerous manufactured homes were completely destroyed in a mobile home park area at Orchard Island, with the damage on Orchard Island rated as high end EF-2. ||The tornado moved over another section of Indian Lake, producing damage over a community on the eastern side of the lake, affecting Park Drive, Maple Street and Walnut Street. Several homes had their roofs completely removed, although most walls remained standing. ||The tornado continued to move to the southeast, crossing State Route 366 and State Route 117 to the north of Huntsville. The tornado had weakened to EF-1 intensity at this point, with hardwood tree damage and outbuilding damage or destruction noted. Damage became much more sporadic and weaker across eastern Logan County with some minor tree damage noted just southwest of West Mansfield. The tornado is believed to have dissipated near County Road 8, just east of State Route 292.

The deaths

3 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

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

27 minutes of warning. NWS ILN issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:02 UTC, 27 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 21:15 UTC and running to 01:19 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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:37 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.

Bellefontaine (EDJ), 11 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 115 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:29 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 2024 tornado in OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are

24 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.