EF1 tornado in Muskingum County, Ohio

A severe thunderstorm exhibiting cyclic tornadic characteristics

produced a brief EF1 tornado in northern Muskingum County. The

first tornado damage was noted around a lake just off of Wise Road

where a swath of softwood trees were snapped at the trunks and

uprooted. The tornado continued to the east-northeast where it

impacted a home and two outbuildings just downstream. A

significant portion of the first outbuilding's roof was removed

and walls on two sides of the building collapsed. The home saw

significant window damage with glass in most windows completely

shattered and pieces of wood and roofing material thrown into the

house creating exterior damage to siding. A significant portion of

the roof was removed with roofing material thrown around the

property. Several chunks of broken 2x4s, presumably from the

outbuilding, were thrown nearly 100 yards and impaled into the

ground next to the house. The tornado collapsed half of a

secondary outbuilding and shifted the remaining standing half off

of its foundation. Just beyond the house and outbuildings,

additional tree damage was noted with large and healthy hardwood

trees twisted, uprooted, and snapped at the trunks. It was this

damage that resulted in the maximum wind 105 mph EF1 rating. Just

next to the trees, a wood light pole was snapped at its base. The

tornado then lifted as it exited the property toward Wise Road as

no additional damage was noted downstream in a wide coverage area

of trees.

Potent low pressure tracked across the Upper Midwest from May 7th into May 8th, pushing an occluded boundary across the Upper Ohio Valley. Strong warm and moist advection kept conditions favorable for convection into the overnight hours, with high levels of shear and a surface trough also supporting storm development. Cyclic supercell structures supported higher-end straight line wind damage, as well as three tornadoes in eastern Ohio. One of these ended up being one of the stronger and more significant tornadoes in the region's recent history, a high-end EF2 that ultimately tracked across 15 miles and three states.