Thunderstorm Wind in Ashland County, Ohio

Large tree limbs downed and roof blown off outbuilding in Ashland.

A surface low moved east-northeastward from southwestern WI to central Lower MI during the evening of March 31st through the wee hours of April 1st. Simultaneously, northern Ohio remained within the warm sector as the low's trailing cold front approached from the Upper and Middle MS Valley. Scattered multicell thunderstorms persisted generally eastward or northeastward across northern OH, ahead of the front. SPC Mesoanalysis data suggest these storms occurred within an environment comprised of moderate effective bulk shear, weak and elevated MUCAPE, an elevated effective inflow layer, primarily weak DCAPE, and absolutely stable 0-3 km AGL lapse rates. Despite this apparent marginally-favorable thermodynamic environment, some of the storms managed to produce severe hail and straight-line convective wind damage during the late evening of March 31st.