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EF1 tornado in Adams County, Ohio

Tornado March 2, 2012 · Adams County, Ohio

EF1
Rating
2.9 mi
Path length
400 yd
Path width
$200K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 400 yards (0.23 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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 touched down in an open field west of Greenlee Road, about 1.2 miles northwest of Seaman. The first notable signs of damage occurred to a nearby pole barn, which partially collapsed. The tornado then moved just north of due east, snapping and uprooting numerous trees and large branches along Greenlee Road. There, some of the tin building material from the aforementioned barn was deposited. Additional tree damage continued into a grove along Mount Leigh Road. The tornado then crossed State Route 247 north of its intersection with Mount Leigh Road, about one mile north of Seaman. On the east side of the highway, a roof was partially removed from a single story home. Directly behind this home, two pole barns sustained heavy damage. Farther east, an aerial survey revealed continuous heavy tree damage along West Fork Ohio Brush Creek. The tornado caused destruction of outbuildings and roof damage to a single story home on State Route 770, just west of its intersection with Old State Route 32. The tornado then lifted. Based on the damage surveyed, the maximum estimated wind speed of this tornado was 100 mph.

The wider storm

Thunderstorms developed during the afternoon in a high wind shear environment ahead of a strengthening low pressure system. Many of these storms became severe, with large hail, damaging thunderstorm winds, and tornadoes all being the main threats.

Began near Seaman (38.9550, -83.5880).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 370170. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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