EF1 Tornado — Jackson, Ohio

2024-05-26 · near Jackson, Jackson, Ohio

Event narrative

A tornado touched down near Mount Zion Road where some minor tree damage occurred and swirl patterns were found in a hay field. The tornado tracked northeastward across State Route 139 where tree damage occurred and an outbuilding was damaged. It continued to skip along causing intermittent tree damage in neighborhoods north of State Route 32. The tornado knocked a tree down onto a vehicle at Hope Haven School then snapped or uprooted several trees, some onto vehicles, behind Rowdy's Smokehouse. This is where the tornado reached maximum EF1 intensity with winds estimated up to 90 miles per hour.

The tornado then crossed Main Street, ripped a portion of the roof of of the Tractor Supply building, flipped over a parked semi trailer in the parking lot and then caused roof damage to buildings in the Senior Village. Some minor tree damage was then noted to the east of US-35 along Pattonsville Road where the tornado path ended.

This was the 8th known tornado in Jackson County and the 2nd so far this year.

Wider weather episode

On the afternoon of May 26th, a bowing line of thunderstorms pressed into southeast Ohio and caused widespread tree and power line damage. This line of convection had a history of producing strong wind gusts on the upwards of 60 miles per hour or greater as it crossed through the Tennessee Valley, and that remained the case during its journey through Ohio. Storms first pressed into Lawrence County shortly after 2 PM and sprinted northward through southeast Ohio during the late afternoon and early evening.

Strong downbursts with storms set forth extensive tree and power line damage throughout the forecast area. A few brief tornadoes spawned on the leading edge of this bowing segment that afternoon. In Ohio, an EF1 tornado touched down in Jackson County and resulted in tree damage as it tracked across the county.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.0287, -82.6593)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1170369. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.