Tornadoes · United States · Ohio · 2025

EF0 tornado, Columbus So Columbus to Valley Crossing, Ohio, March 30, 2025

From Columbus So Columbus to Valley Crossing, this EF0 tornado ran 2.6 miles across Franklin County on March 30, 2025, touching down at 10:10 PM EDT and reaching 250 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $85,000 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.

  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.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
March 30, 2025
Touchdown
10:10 PM EDT (02:10 UTC)
Lifted
10:13 PM EDT (02:13 UTC)
On the ground
3 minutes
Path length
2.6 miles (4.2 km)
Path width
250 yards (229 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$85,000
County
Franklin County
Touchdown point
39.870, -82.980
Lift-off point
39.880, -82.936
Record number
2503302010-01

The damage survey

30 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.

  • Yard furniture thrown around.
  • Stick embedded in home siding. minor siding damage
  • Damage to home patio furniture

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

A low pressure system moved through the Great Lakes region, bringing showers and thunderstorms.

The tornado likely began south of I-270, west of Lockbourne Road. Damage to carports along with minor damage to homes was observed at a mobile home park. Additional minor damage to homes and lawn furniture was found in the Butler Farms subdivision to the east of the mobile home park. ||After crossing Lockbourne Road and I-270, the tornado next impacted homes north of Groveport Road. Roof and siding damage was found along Bridlewood Blvd and Thelma Drive, along with uprooted trees. Minor home and tree damage continued northeastward on Pelham Place, Poplar Street, and Jermoore Road. The tornado is believed to have dissipated west of Alum Creek Drive.

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

The warnings

32 minutes of warning. NWS ILN issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:38 UTC, 32 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 01:10 UTC and running to 03:19 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
01:10 UTC03:19 UTCTornado WatchILN
01:38 UTC02:15 UTCTornado WarningILN
01:46 UTC02:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningILN

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 00:51 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

2.2 hours before the tornado, 87 km from the path. March 31, 2025.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 2025-03-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 390 joules per kilogram, CIN -14, lifted condensation level 816 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 2025-03-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 293 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 46 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
390 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-14 J/kg
Surface CAPE
943 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
816 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
293 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
322 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
6.4
0-3 km lapse rate
6.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), 12:00Z

9.8 hours after it, 87 km from the path. March 31, 2025.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 2025-03-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -10101, lifted condensation level 626 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 2025-03-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 80 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 57 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10101 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
626 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
80 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
137 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 90 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:07 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)ReportWhereCountyRemark
01:12 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Sse Downtown ColumbusFranklin, OHLarge softwood trees snapped aloft.
01:35 UTCTORNADO2 W JeffersonvilleFayette, OHAn EF1 tornado with estimated peak winds around 90 MPH and a path width of about 250 yards occurred just west of Jeffersonville, OH and traveled a total of 3.91 miles, dissipating at about 9:35PM. The tornado caused dama
01:36 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 W JeffersonvilleFayette, OHLarge barn collapsed/destroyed.
01:38 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 E JeffersonvilleFayette, OHPower poles down on 71. Time estimated from RADAR.
01:42 UTCTSTM WND DMGLondonMadison, OHMultiple trees down in London. Time estimated from RADAR.
01:55 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Sw Mount SterlingFayette, OHPower poles down on 62. Time estimated from RADAR.
01:55 UTCTSTM WND GST 512 Nne Washington CourtFayette, OHKI23 AWOS.
02:00 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Wsw JeffersonvilleFayette, OHBarn destroyed. Time estimated from RADAR.
02:02 UTCTORNADO2 Wsw ObetzFranklin, OHNWS damage survey confirmed an EF0 in Obetz Ohio. Estimated maximum winds of 85 mph, with a path length of 2.6 miles.
02:04 UTCTSTM WND GST 593 W RiverleaFranklin, OHCorrects previous tstm wnd gst report from 3 W Riverlea. ASOS station KOSU Columbus Ohio State University Airport.
02:07 UTCHAIL 13 W RiverleaFranklin, OH
02:11 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 W ObetzFranklin, OHDamaged siding, roof damage, carports damaged. Manufactured homes damaged.
02:12 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Sse Downtown ColumbusFranklin, OHCorrects previous tstm wnd dmg report from 2 SSE Downtown Columbus. Large softwood trees snapped aloft.
02:12 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Sw Downtown ColumbusFranklin, OHSeveral trees downed (some uprooted, some split at trunk), numerous grave headstones blown off of their bases.
02:15 UTCTSTM WND DMGObetzFranklin, OHTree reported down on a home. Power lines down in the area. Time estimated from radar.
02:15 UTCTSTM WND GST 543 W UrbancrestFranklin, OHKTZR AWOS.
02:16 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 S WhitehallFranklin, OHMany trees uprooted, snapped at trunks, large branches broken off, shingles lifted from homes, siding lifted from homes, gutters torn down.
02:17 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 S WhitehallFranklin, OHNumerous trees downed near East Mound St and Striebel. Time estimated by radar.
02:29 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Ne PickeringtonFairfield, OHPower poles down, large tree downed across Tollgate Road south of 204. Large limbs downed.
02:35 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Nw BaltimoreFairfield, OHOne tree down. Time estimated from RADAR.
02:38 UTCTSTM WND GST 534 Se CarrollFairfield, OHASOS station KLHQ Fairfield County Airport.
02:40 UTCTSTM WND GST 532 Nne WhitehallFranklin, OHASOS station KCMH Columbus John Glenn International Airport.
02:41 UTCTSTM WND DMGUticaLicking, OHMultiple trees downed in Utica. Time estimated by radar.
02:43 UTCTSTM WND DMGUticaLicking, OHA couple of trees down in Utica. Time estimated from RADAR.
02:53 UTCTSTM WND GST 593 W RiverleaFranklin, OHASOS station KOSU Columbus Ohio State University Airport.
02:58 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Wsw Junction CityPerry, OHMultiple trees along with a couple of power lines on Flagdale Rd. Time estimated from radar.
02:58 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Wsw Junction CityPerry, OHMultiple trees along with a couple of power lines on Flagdale Rd. Time estimated from radar.
03:00 UTCTSTM WND DMGSomersetPerry, OHMultiple trees down. Time estimated from radar.
03:00 UTCTSTM WND DMGSomersetPerry, OHMultiple trees down. Time estimated from radar.
03:11 UTCTSTM WND DMGJunction CityPerry, OHTree reported down across Logan Street.
03:11 UTCTSTM WND DMGJunction CityPerry, OHTree reported down across Logan Street.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2025 tornado in OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of March 30, 2025

42 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 3011:46 AM CDTEF0Jackson, MS2.475
March 301:20 PM CDTEF1Champaign, IL12.1300
March 301:37 PM CDTEF0Jackson, MS0.975$5,000
March 302:28 PM CDTEF0Newton, IN6.1200
March 303:22 PM CDTEF1Starke, IN3.27501$110,000
March 304:52 PM EDTEF1Cass, MI2.6100$100,000
March 304:56 PM EDTEF1Cass, MI2.0200$50,000
March 305:16 PM EDTEF1Noble, IN1.4200$100,000
March 305:17 PM EDTEF0Saint Joseph, MI3.6300$60,000
March 305:28 PM EDTEF1Steuben, IN5.7100$100,000
March 305:42 PM EDTEF0Kent, MI4.2150
March 305:58 PM EDTEF1Kent, MI1.7250
March 306:00 PM EDTEF0Kent, MI2.4300
March 306:00 PM EDTEF0Kent, MI5.0150
March 305:02 PM CDTEF1Ripley, MO8.650$55,000
March 306:05 PM EDTEF0Newaygo, MI2.850
March 306:07 PM EDTEF0Ionia, MI2.2150
March 306:20 PM EDTEF0Ingham, MI2.750
March 306:21 PM EDTEF0Ionia, MI0.525
March 306:40 PM EDTEF1Ingham, MI5.3150
March 306:45 PM EDTEF0Monroe, IN0.130$15,000
March 306:51 PM EDTEF0Monroe, MI0.5100
March 307:00 PM EDTEF1Shiawassee, MI0.9100
March 306:05 PM CDTEF1Alexander, IL23.9150$75,000
March 307:54 PM EDTEF0Ripley, IN2.2100$150,000
March 308:02 PM EDTEF1Ripley, IN4.8200$200,000
March 307:39 PM CDTEF0Poinsett, AR4.8150$3,000
March 308:40 PM EDTEF0Butler, OH6.9150$250,000
March 308:52 PM EDTEF0Butler, OH11.7200$265,000
March 309:07 PM EDTEF0Warren, OH3.0150$100,000
March 308:20 PM CDTEF1Breckinridge, KY2.530
March 309:23 PM EDTEF1Meade, KY30.35001
March 309:35 PM EDTEF1Fayette, OH3.9250$250,000
March 309:35 PM EDTEF1Meade, KY7.250
March 309:48 PM EDTEF1Jefferson, KY5.4301
March 3010:23 PM EDTEF1Spencer, KY2.580
March 3010:07 PM CDTEF1Humphreys, TN2.0150$100,000
March 3010:25 PM CDTEF0Humphreys, TN2.5300$100,000
March 3011:07 PM CDTEF0Hickman, TN2.2150$50,000
March 3011:12 PM CDTEF0Perry, TN0.375$50,000
March 3012:00 AM CDTEF2Maury, TN5.6350$500,000
March 3012:14 AM CDTEF1Maury, TN4.1300$50,000

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.