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EF3 tornado in Auglaize County, Ohio

Tornado March 14, 2024 · Auglaize County, Ohio

EF3
Rating
31.3 mi
Whole path
1,000 yd
Path width
3
Deaths
27
Injuries
$6.0M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Auglaize County → Logan County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,000 yards (0.57 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF3 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF3 is severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, consistent with estimated gusts of 136–165 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

The tornado began immediately east of Interstate 75, south of Wapakoneta, where it damaged a farm on the west side of Cemetery Road. Video shared on social media showed the tornado rapidly strengthened west of Glacier Hill Lakes RV Resort, causing significant damage to a grove of trees west of the resort. After crossing a field, the tornado moved through the center of the resort, lofting campers and snapping trees. Two individuals at the resort suffered injuries that required hospitalization. The tornado continued eastward toward Wapak-Freyburg Road and caused significant damage to the Resort clubhouse and residential homes on the west side of the road. The collective damage done to the trees and buildings within this corridor of damage justified wind estimates of 140 mph, EF-3. The tornado moved into an open field east of Wapak-Freyburg Road at an unknown intensity.

Three-tenths of a mile south of Pusheta Road, the tornado caused significant tree damage to three separate groves of trees as it neared Town Line Road. Aerial images provided by the Auglaize County EMA/CERT confirmed the tornado was still strong, at least EF-2 strength, south of Pusheta Road. The tornado likely remained fairly strong as it impacted homes and outbuildings along Town Line Road, Ashburn Road, and Geyer Road. A brief weakening period, or narrowing of the tornado was observed near Geyer, where the tornado remained mainly over open fields.

The next period of intensification occurred between State Route 65 and Valley Road. Damage to a few homes and outbuildings, along with significant damage to a few groves of trees confirmed this period of intensification. The tornado began to make a more significant southeast turn between Wrestle Creek Road and Valley Road. The strong, likely EF2 tornado continued to move southeastward and entered Logan County at 1843EST, just north of Santa Fe.

The tornado continued east-southeast across much of Logan County before ending at 1916EST, 3 miles west-southwest of West Mansfield.

The wider storm

Thunderstorms developed in an unseasonably warm and humid airmass ahead of an approaching cold front.

Began near Fryburg (40.5193, -84.1664).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

5 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1166417. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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