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EF2 tornado in Hancock County, Ohio

Tornado May 31, 2008 · Hancock County, Ohio

EF2
Rating
5.8 mi
Path length
100 yd
Path width
6
Injuries
$1.0M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

A tornado touched down in northeastern Hancock County about two miles southwest of Arcadia near the intersection of Township Roads 214 and 254. The tornado continued northeast for about six miles before moving into Seneca County on the south end of Fostoria. The total tornado path length was over eight miles. The track was parallel to State Route 12 and about a mile to the south of the road. The tornado was initially an EF1 but strengthened to EF2 intensity after crossing County Road 330. The tornado returned to EF1 intensity just before reaching County Road 23 on the southwest edge of Fostoria. The damage path had a maximum width of around 100 yards. Around a dozen properties sustained damage from this tornado. At least two homes were destroyed with several others heavily damaged. Many outbuildings were also damaged. Hundreds of trees were toppled along the damage path. At least six people were treated at a Fostoria hospital for cuts and bruises.

The wider storm

A cold front trailing an area of low pressure over the central Great Lakes moved into western Ohio during the late evening hours of May 30th. Showers and thunderstorms developed in advance of this front and moved across northern Ohio during the early morning hours of May 31st. A few of these thunderstorms became severe with one producing a tornado.

Began near Arcadia (41.0937, -83.5166).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 107422. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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