EF2 Tornado — Wayne, Ohio

2010-09-16 · near Wooster, Wayne, Ohio

Event narrative

A tornado touched down in Wayne County two miles southwest of downtown Wooster around 5:26 pm. This tornado strengthened to EF2 intensity and continued on the ground for over 11 miles before finally lifting two miles west of Dalton. Extensive damage occurred along the damage path with dozens of homes and buildings damaged. After the initial touchdown, the tornado quickly intensified to an EF2 as it continued on the ground to the east northeast. The tornado crossed Prairie Lane and Timken Road and then moved across St. Mary's Cemetery. Damage at the cemetery was extensive with 80 of 81 large trees knocked down and over two hundred gravestones broken or toppled. From the cemetery, the tornado crossed Madison Avenue and moved across the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC). Significant damage occurred on the OADRC campus with several buildings severely damaged. A laboratory in one the buildings was destroyed. Two historic homes on the property sustained significant roof damage and several greenhouses were destroyed. Two barns and a machine shop were also leveled. The 102 year old Secrest Arboretum on the campus lost over 800 trees and many research projects were damaged or destroyed. The tornado tossed and destroyed several vehicles and a lot of farm machinery was also damaged or destroyed. From the OARDC campus, the tornado continued east along Secrest Road damaging or destroying several homes and buildings. The tornado weakened to EF1 intensity as it crossed Sylvan Road and to an EF0 as it crossed Barnard Road. The tornado then remained either an EF0 or EF1 until it lifted near the intersection of Kidron Road and Old Lincoln Way just west of Dalton. A total of nine homes were either destroyed or sustained major damage. Another 90 homes sustained lesser amounts of damage. In addition, at least 50 barns, garages and other outbuildings were damaged of destroyed. Thousands of trees were also toppled along the damage path which was up to 150 yards in width. Twenty eight utility poles were knocked down in Wooster alone and high tension transmission lines were also torn down by the tornado. The downed transmission lines affected four substations and resulted in around a third of Wayne County loosing power right after the tornado. The OARDC campus was closed for over a week and two local school districts had to close on September 17th because of the power outages. Only one very minor injury was reported.

Wider weather episode

During the late morning hours on September 16th, a warm front lifted northward through Ohio allowing for a significant destabilization of the atmosphere. By early afternoon, a severe thunderstorm watch was issued for most of northern Ohio. Severe thunderstorms swept across Ohio ahead of a cold front beginning in the mid afternoon and lasting well into the evening. Two devastating tornadoes occurred in northern Ohio. An EF2 tornado touched down in Wayne County near Wooster. This tornado left an eleven and a half mile long damage path and damaged over a hundred homes and buildings. A second tornado touched down in southern Holmes County. This tornado was rated an EF1 and was on the ground for about three miles.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.7733, -81.9628)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 255046. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.