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EF1 tornado in Seneca County, Ohio

Tornado May 31, 2008 · Seneca County, Ohio

EF1

Rating

2.5 mi

Path length

100 yd

Path width

$750K

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 EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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

An EF1 tornado continued into western Seneca County from Hancock County. The tornado entered the county on the south side of Fostoria and continued northeast for around two and half miles before dissipating near County Road 60. One home on the south side of Fostoria was damaged enough to be classified as destroyed. Many other homes in the city sustained roof or siding damage. At least 30 homes were reported to have limbs or trees on them in Fostoria alone. Several sheds and other outbuildings were also leveled. Hundreds of trees were toppled as well. This tornado had a damage path more than eight miles in length and up to a 100 yards in width.

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 Fostoria Snyder Arpt (41.1593, -83.3831).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Hancock County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 107423. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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