Flash Flood — Erie, Ohio

2023-08-23 to 2023-08-24 · near Huron, Erie, Ohio

Event narrative

Widespread flooding across western and central Erie County, including the cities of Sandusky and Huron, Margaretta Township, Perkins Township, Oxford Township, and Huron Township. Officials estimated hundreds of homes impacted by basement flooding per local media reports. Widespread road closures due to flooding. Some of the roads impacted by flooding include US-6 from the Sandusky city limits to OH-269, Homegardner Road between OH-269 and Bardshar Road, Campbell Street at Pipe Creek, Old Railroad Road at Mills Creek, Bogart Road at Pipe Creek and at Patten Tract Road, Patten Tract Road at Fox Road and Mason Road, Ransom Road at Wood Road, and Hull Avenue at Lawrence Avenue. Huron High School damaged by flooding. Animal shelter needed evacuated due to flooding. Several residents requiring evacuation near Pipe Creek near Columbus Avenue. Cars stranded in underpass on Columbus Avenue. Apartment complex flooded out in the southeast portion of the city of Sandusky. Radar estimated 3 to 4.75 inches of rainfall in a three hour period, with the highest amount along the Lake Erie shoreline from Sandusky to Huron.

Wider weather episode

An anomalously-warm and moist air mass was in place across much of the Central Plains and Midwest, resulting in strong to perhaps extreme instability in addition to tropical-like precipitable water values exceeding 2.0 inches. The Lower Great Lakes region, specifically northern Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania found itself on the eastern edge of this heat dome. Strong northwest flow aloft persisted along the periphery of the anomalously-warm and moist air mass, allowing for organized storms to develop across northern Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania. A constant feed of moisture allowed these storms to maintain their intensity throughout the evening and overnight hours of Aug 23, 2023 and into the early morning hours of Aug 24, 2023 as they slowly pivoted southwest. Numerous flash flood warnings were issued with 3 considerable tags utilized throughout the course of the event. The hardest-hit areas were along the lakeshore between Toledo and Cleveland where there were several reports of 5 to 7 inches of rainfall. Elsewhere, generally 2 to 4 inches of rainfall was common, most of which fell in only a few hours. The area was on the edge of an extremely unstable airmass with sufficient deep-layer shear for organized convection.

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Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1154383. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.