EF2 tornado, Poplar Grove to Elm Grove, Ohio, June 18, 2026

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 mphthis tornado

   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, as surveyed

EF2, preliminary

Date

June 18, 2026

Touchdown

4:05 AM EDT (08:05 UTC)

Lifted

4:20 AM EDT (08:20 UTC)

On the ground

15 minutes

Path length

8.9 miles (14.3 km)

Path width

250 yards (229 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Pike County

Touchdown point

39.028, -83.288

Lift-off point

39.040, -83.128

Highest wind the damage implies

115 mph

Surveyed by

NWS ILN

The office's name for it

Elm Grove OH

Survey last edited

June 21, 2026

Record number

None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.

The first evidence of tornadic damage occurred on Union Hill Road in Pike County about six tenths of a mile north of Appalachian Highway where a few hardwood trees were snapped and multiple limbs were broken off trees. The tornado then moved through a heavily forested area towards the intersection of Lansing Road and Chenoweth Fork Road where more tree damage was noted. Tree damage continued in a concentrated path to the east northeast along Chenoweth Fork Road before crossing Appalachian Highway and causing a fair amount of tree damage at a rest station on Meads Road. The damage noted in the first third of the tornado’s path consisted of broken branches, snapped trunks, and uprooting of mature trees. This is consistent with EF0 and EF1 damage.

After the damage occurred at the Meads Road rest station, the tornado continued east through a forest with a large hillside that was not reachable by ground survey. This coincided with the first evidence of a Tornadic Debris Signature on the Wilmington, OH radar. When the tornado came down the ridgeline just west of Elm Grove, the most significant damage indicators were noted. An entire section of hardwood forest, about 200-250 yards wide, was blown down. Drone photography and ground survey confirms all hardwood trees in this location were snapped with none left standing. The estimate for this type of tree damage is around 115 mph, which is consistent with low end EF2 damage.

Some higher-end EF1 damage was observed as the tornado moved northeast off the hillside into Elm Grove where complete collapse of out buildings and barns, 70% removal of a roof off a house, and snapping of large power transmission lines occurred. After Elm Grove, the tornado turned southeast causing additional damage near the intersection of SR 772 and Appalachian Highway. The final evidence of tree damage was located on Sun Fish Creek Road about a half mile south of Tennyson Road.

The National Weather Service would like to thank The Pike County Ohio Emergency Management Agency and the Ohio Emergency Agency for their assistance and support with this damage survey.

Written by NWS ILN in the NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit. A survey is revised as better evidence arrives.

32 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS ILN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 115 mph.

• Significant tree damage on hillside south of State Route 32.
• Significant tree damage along Laurel Ridge Road and Chenoweth Fork.

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

Thunderstorms developed during the overnight hours as a low pressure system moved through the Ohio Valley.

The first evidence of tornadic damage occurred on Union Hill Road, about six tenths of a mile north of Appalachian Highway, where a few hardwood trees were snapped and multiple limbs were broken off of trees. The tornado then moved through a heavily forested area towards the intersection of Lansing Road and Chenoweth Fork Road where more tree damage was noted. Tree damage continued in a concentrated path to the east-northeast along Chenoweth Fork Road before crossing Appalachian Highway and causing a fair amount of tree damage at a rest station on Meads Road. The damage noted in the first third of the tornado's path consisted of broken branches, snapped trunks, and uprooted mature trees. This was consistent with EF-0 and EF-1 damage. ||The tornado continued east through a forest with a large hillside that was not accessible by ground survey. This coincided with the first evidence of a Tornadic Debris Signature on the Wilmington, Ohio radar. When the tornado came down the ridgeline just west of Elm Grove, the most significant damage indicators were noted. An entire section of hardwood forest, about 200-250 yards wide, was blown down. Drone photography and the ground survey confirmed all hardwood trees in this location were snapped, with none left standing. The estimate for this type of tree damage was around 115 mph, consistent with low end EF-2 damage. ||Some higher-end EF-1 damage was observed as the tornado moved northeast off the hillside into Elm Grove, where the complete collapse of out buildings and barns occurred. Additionally, a significant portion of a roof off was lifted off of a house and large power transmission lines were snapped. After Elm Grove, the tornado turned southeast and caused additional damage near the intersection of State Route 772 and Appalachian Highway. The final evidence of tree damage was located on Sun Fish Creek Road, about a half mile south of Tennyson Road.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 02:13 UTC and running to 08:43 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 Marginal Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:49 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.

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 68 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 08:05 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 2026 tornado in OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are

50 more have been surveyed in the United States that day, so far.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. A survey can be revised, so the rating, the path and the casualties can all still change.

NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit, the record the survey teams file from the damage, and NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports. Neither is the official database for 2026, which SPC publishes in the spring of 2027.