EF2 tornado in Athens County, Ohio

A tornado touchdown was along Kimberly Road, about 4 miles from Nelsonville. The tornado reached maximum intensity along Matheny Road to State Route 691. Matheny Road is also called York Township Road 269. Damage was concentrated along Matheny Road and State Route 691. The low level circulation was evident in the damage along Matheny Road. Debris was strewn one way on the south side of the road, then in the opposite direction on the north side. One resident said, you could see stuff flying through the air. Then the noise got real loud and we ran into the house and into a closet. The house was just shaking. Several mobile homes were completely destroyed. Yet, some of these mobile homes were poorly anchored or not anchored at all. Many large softwood trees were uprooted or snapped at their trunks. Reports were received of several cows being lifted by the tornado. A hay bale weighing 1800 pounds was lofted into the air and set back down. The maximum wind gusts were estimated at 120 to 130 mph. A total of 7 people were injured. About 13 homes were destroyed, with dozens of other homes damaged.

Since 1950, this is only the second confirmed tornado in Athens County. The previous tornado was a F1 during May of 1980. However, prior to 1950, 3 tornadoes have been reported in Athens County, back in July of 1896, April of 1922, and June of 1937. The June 1937 tornado killed 3. The storm in 1896 was reported in Glouster. However, historical accounts also describe a tornado in the late 1800s that destroyed a large grove of sycamore trees in the city of Athens.

A cold front, in tandem with strong mid and upper level forcing, produced a severe weather outbreak in southeast Ohio into extreme western West Virginia during the late afternoon and evening of Thursday the 16th. The setup featured a 45 knot mid level flow and a 95 knot upper level jet. Matter of fact, a larger area of showers, associated with a warm front, had moved across southeast Ohio and West Virginia during the morning and midday hours. This kept the surface based instability at a minimum. However, new cells formed further west during the mid afternoon over western Ohio. It was this new cluster of convection that would intensify due to the strong mid and upper level dynamics. Several of the new cells formed and intensified on the southern or southwestern flank of the overall larger area of showers and thunderstorms. This area of convection stretched further to the northeast into eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. This allowed an unimpeded low level moisture inflow into the new development. Surface dew points ahead of the cold front reached into the mid 60s.

Most of the severe thunderstorms exhibited strong rotation, resulting in the spawning of 5 tornadoes. Four of these 5 tornadoes were in Ohio. One of the 4 Ohio tornadoes crossed from Fairfield County into western Perry County. Another 1 of the 4 crossed from Perry into northwestern Morgan County. One tornado patch was solely in western Athens County. The damage continued another 10 miles in Athens County from a strong rear flank downdraft. Finally, the last of the 4 tornadoes in Ohio crossed the Ohio River from northeastern Meigs County into southern Wood County in West Virginia. From storm surveys, this was the strongest tornado. The last tornado path in this outbreak was solely in western West Virginia. Luckily, there were no fatalities in southeastern Ohio. However, there was one death on the West Virginia side of the Ohio River.