Tornadoes · United States · Ohio · 2024
EF1 tornado, Broughton to Oakwood Bauer Fld Ar, Ohio, May 7, 2024
From Broughton to Oakwood Bauer Fld Ar, this EF1 tornado ran 6.2 miles across Paulding County on May 7, 2024, touching down at 8:09 PM EDT and reaching 300 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $200,000 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
- May 7, 2024
- Touchdown
- 8:09 PM EDT (00:09 UTC)
- Lifted
- 8:14 PM EDT (00:14 UTC)
- On the ground
- 5 minutes
- Path length
- 6.2 miles (9.9 km)
- Path width
- 300 yards (274 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $200,000
- County
- Paulding County
- Touchdown point
- 41.080, -84.515
- Lift-off point
- 41.087, -84.397
- Record number
- 2405071809-01
The damage survey
1 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS IWX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 83 mph.
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
Thunderstorms produced severe tornadoes and damaging wind gusts on the afternoon and evening of May 7. Large hail occurred in Indiana and Michigan, while three tornadoes were documented in Ohio.
Several reports of a funnel cloud were received prior to touchdown. The most extensive tornado damage occurred north of Road 82 along road 151 where several structures were impacted. An unanchored home was slid 18 feet off its foundation into the west side of a barn.
Emergency management sent drone footage which shows scoured dirt through a freshly plowed field along road 166 between road 191 and Ohio 66. The track terminates near a large metal outbuilding which lost some roof panels.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
14 minutes of warning. NWS IWX issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:55 UTC, 14 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:30 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:55 UTC and running to 01:54 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20:55 UTC | 01:54 UTC | Tornado Watch | IWX |
| 23:37 UTC | 00:01 UTC | Tornado Warning | IWX |
| 23:55 UTC | 00:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | IWX |
| 00:15 UTC | 00:25 UTC | Tornado Warning | IWX |
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 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 19:45 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
0.2 hours before the tornado, 192 km from the path. May 8, 2024.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1297 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -6 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 2204 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 774 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 77 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 18 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 172 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 233 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.7
- Supercell composite
- 8.9
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 6.4 K/km
Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), 12:00Z
11.8 hours after it, 192 km from the path. May 8, 2024.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -69553 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1727 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 9 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 28 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 87 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.5 K/km
The radar
The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 108 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23:55 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | Paulding | Paulding, OH | Facebook photo of a funnel cloud. Tim estimated by radar. |
| 23:55 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | Paulding | Paulding, OH | Facebook photo of a funnel cloud. Tim estimated by radar. |
| 00:06 UTC | TORNADO | 1 Se Latty | Paulding, OH | Small to medium Limbs downed. |
| 00:06 UTC | TORNADO | 1 Se Latty | Paulding, OH | Small to medium Limbs downed. |
| 00:08 UTC | TORNADO | 1 W Charloe | Paulding, OH | Van Wert County EMA relayed a photo of a tornado. Further investigation confirmed this damaged the house of a relative. Time estimated. |
| 00:08 UTC | TORNADO | 1 W Charloe | Paulding, OH | Van Wert County EMA relayed a photo of a tornado. Further investigation confirmed this damaged the house of a relative. Time estimated. |
| 00:09 UTC | TORNADO | 2 W Melrose | Paulding, OH | Corrects time of previous tornado report from 2 W Melrose. Additional review by emergency management and NWS found damage near Belmore, so the time and path length of the tornado was updated accordingly. Several reports |
| 00:11 UTC | TORNADO | 2 W Melrose | Paulding, OH | Several reports of funnel clouds and a touchdown were received from near Latty east to south of Melrose and west of Oakwood. The most extensive damage occurred north of Road 82, along Road 151 where several structures we |
| 00:13 UTC | TORNADO | Oakwood | Paulding, OH | Report of tornado with visible soil lofted along Highway 613 west of Oakwood. |
| 00:13 UTC | TORNADO | Oakwood | Paulding, OH | Report of tornado with visible soil lofted along Highway 613 west of Oakwood. |
| 00:16 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Ssw Arthur | Paulding, OH | Emergency management sent drone footage which shows scoured dirt through a freshly plowed field along Road 166 between Road 191 and Ohio 66. The track terminates near a large metal outbuilding (at the intersection of OH |
| 00:30 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | Broughton | Paulding, OH | Facebook photos shows a funnel cloud nearly on the ground in Broughton. Time estimated by radar. |
| 00:30 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | Broughton | Paulding, OH | Facebook photos shows a funnel cloud nearly on the ground in Broughton. Time estimated by radar. |
| 00:30 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | Melrose | Paulding, OH | Video of a funnel cloud on X/Twitter from Melrose, OH. Time estimated by radar. |
| 00:30 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | Melrose | Paulding, OH | Video of a funnel cloud on X/Twitter from Melrose, OH. Time estimated by radar. |
| 00:36 UTC | TORNADO | 2 E Oakwood | Putnam, OH | Photo on X/Twitter between Melrose and Leipsic of a tornado on the ground. Time estimated by radar. |
| 00:36 UTC | TORNADO | 2 E Oakwood | Putnam, OH | Photo on X/Twitter between Melrose and Leipsic of a tornado on the ground. Time estimated by radar. |
| 00:40 UTC | TORNADO | Oakwood | Paulding, OH | Numerous photos on Facebook of a funnel cloud nearly on the ground between Melrose and Oakwood. Additional photos show the tornado on the ground near Oakwood. Fairly certain that a brief tornado touched down between Melr |
| 00:40 UTC | TORNADO | Oakwood | Paulding, OH | Numerous photos on Facebook of a funnel cloud nearly on the ground between Melrose and Oakwood. Additional photos show the tornado on the ground near Oakwood. Fairly certain that a brief tornado touched down between Melr |
| 00:54 UTC | TORNADO | 2 S Belmore | Putnam, OH | A trained spotter reported a brief tornado touched down south of Belmore, OH at 8:54 PM EDT May 7th. Videos confirm that a tornado did touch down in a field just east of Little Yellow Creek, south of Iams Avenue and west |
| 00:56 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Se Belmore | Putnam, OH | Trained spotter observed a very brief tornado about 2 miles SSE of Belmore. A friend closer to the storm confirmed it visually on the ground for a few seconds. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2024 tornado in OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of May 7, 2024
52 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 7 | 1:05 AM CDT | EF1 | Okfuskee, OK | 2.8 | 200 | $15,000 | ||
| May 7 | 1:12 AM CDT | EF0 | Warren, IA | 3.1 | 80 | $50,000 | ||
| May 7 | 1:35 AM CDT | EF0 | Jasper, IA | 0.1 | 30 | $25,000 | ||
| May 7 | 1:37 AM CDT | EF0 | Marion, IA | 5.0 | 80 | $8,000 | ||
| May 7 | 1:43 AM CDT | EF1 | Randolph, MO | 8.3 | 250 | |||
| May 7 | 1:44 AM CDT | EF0 | Randolph, MO | 2.3 | 400 | |||
| May 7 | 2:23 AM CDT | EF2 | Adair, OK to AR | 11.7 | 800 | $75,000 | ||
| May 7 | 2:28 AM CDT | EF0 | Pulaski, MO | 9.8 | 150 | $16,000 | ||
| May 7 | 2:43 AM CDT | EF1 | Crawford, AR | 5.7 | 900 | $30,000 | ||
| May 7 | 2:43 AM CDT | EF1 | Crawford, AR | 9.2 | 1,100 | $500,000 | ||
| May 7 | 2:48 AM CDT | EF1 | Crawford, AR | 0.6 | 100 | $50,000 | ||
| May 7 | 2:55 AM CDT | EF1 | Washington, AR | 1.8 | 150 | $35,000 | ||
| May 7 | 2:55 AM CDT | EF1 | Franklin, AR | 3.9 | 1,200 | $30,000 | ||
| May 7 | 3:08 AM CDT | EF1 | Washington, AR | 2.8 | 550 | $30,000 | ||
| May 7 | 3:44 AM CDT | EF0 | Crawford, MO | 0.7 | 75 | |||
| May 7 | 3:45 AM CDT | EF1 | Franklin, MO | 0.3 | 150 | |||
| May 7 | 4:21 AM CDT | EF0 | Saint Charles, MO | 2.2 | 50 | |||
| May 7 | 2:05 PM CDT | EF0 | Boone, IL to WI | 14.3 | 50 | $60,000 | ||
| May 7 | 2:18 PM CDT | EF1 | Walworth, WI | 1.0 | 50 | $100,000 | ||
| May 7 | 5:11 PM EDT | EF1 | Cass, MI | 11.7 | 950 | |||
| May 7 | 5:41 PM EDT | EF2 | Saint Joseph, MI | 19.5 | 950 | 1 | ||
| May 7 | 5:55 PM EDT | EF2 | Kalamazoo, MI | 10.9 | 300 | 12 | $50 million | |
| May 7 | 6:07 PM EDT | EF1 | Branch, MI | 1.1 | 100 | |||
| May 7 | 6:11 PM EDT | Unrated | Steuben, IN | 0.1 | 1 | |||
| May 7 | 7:47 PM EDT | Unrated | Rush, IN | 0.8 | 30 | |||
| May 7 | 7:50 PM EDT | EF2 | Mercer, OH | 8.1 | 400 | $50,000 | ||
| May 7 | 8:02 PM EDT | EF0 | Shelby, IN | 0.8 | 50 | $30,000 | ||
| May 7 | 8:03 PM EDT | EF1 | Rush, IN | 4.6 | 75 | $47,000 | ||
| May 7 | 8:05 PM EDT | EF1 | Rush, IN | 0.2 | 30 | $30,000 | ||
| May 7 | 8:08 PM EDT | EF1 | Fayette, IN | 2.9 | 150 | $50,000 | ||
| May 7 | 8:16 PM EDT | EF0 | Paulding, OH | 0.5 | 25 | $10,000 | ||
| May 7 | 8:20 PM EDT | EF2 | Mercer, OH | 6.4 | 300 | $350,000 | ||
| May 7 | 8:24 PM EDT | EF1 | Darke, OH | 11.7 | 800 | $500,000 | ||
| May 7 | 8:25 PM EDT | EF0 | Decatur, IN | 4.5 | 100 | $50,000 | ||
| May 7 | 8:42 PM EDT | EF0 | Crawford, IN | 0.2 | 80 | |||
| May 7 | 8:54 PM EDT | Unrated | Putnam, OH | 0.1 | 5 | |||
| May 7 | 7:56 PM CDT | EF1 | Franklin, IN to OH | 8.0 | 300 | $10,000 | ||
| May 7 | 9:20 PM EDT | EF1 | Butler, OH | 2.4 | 200 | $200,000 | ||
| May 7 | 9:23 PM EDT | EF0 | Clark, IN | 1.2 | 60 | |||
| May 7 | 9:57 PM EDT | EF0 | Butler, OH | 0.3 | 80 | $20,000 | ||
| May 7 | 10:05 PM EDT | EF0 | Warren, OH | 0.3 | 100 | $15,000 | ||
| May 7 | 10:08 PM EDT | EF1 | Warren, OH | 2.6 | 150 | $200,000 | ||
| May 7 | 10:14 PM EDT | EF0 | Warren, OH | 0.4 | 50 | $20,000 | ||
| May 7 | 10:15 PM EDT | EF1 | Warren, OH | 2.7 | 350 | $500,000 | ||
| May 7 | 10:27 PM EDT | EF0 | Warren, OH | 0.5 | 150 | $50,000 | ||
| May 7 | 10:27 PM EDT | EF0 | Clinton, OH | 1.3 | 80 | $10,000 | ||
| May 7 | 11:49 PM EDT | EF0 | Licking, OH | 3.0 | 100 | $50,000 | ||
| May 7 | 12:02 AM EDT | EF1 | Muskingum, OH | 0.4 | 128 | $100,000 | ||
| May 7 | 12:17 AM EDT | EF1 | Coshocton, OH | 0.1 | 197 | $100,000 | ||
| May 7 | 11:54 PM CDT | EF2 | Hancock, OH to WV, PA | 15.3 | 200 | 1 | $10,000 | |
| May 7 | 12:30 AM CDT | EF2 | Garland, AR | 12.2 | 600 | |||
| May 7 | 1:49 AM EDT | EF1 | Allegheny, PA | 0.2 | 150 | $75,000 |
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.