High Wind — Lorain, Ohio

2012-10-29 to 2012-10-30 · Lorain, Ohio

Event narrative

Winds in Lorain County gusted to over 60 mph for a few hours. A peak gust of 63 mph was measured by an automated sensor at the Lorain County Airport. Hundreds of trees were downed in the county with most of the damage near the Lake Erie shoreline. Up to 30,000 electric customers lost power. There were reports of trees on houses and vehicles. Many homes also lost sections of roofing and siding. A lot of streets had to be closed because of downed trees and power lines.

Wider weather episode

Hurricane Sandy tracked up the east coast of the United States and merged with an upper level trough on October 29, 2012. Sandy transitioned to a post-tropical cyclone and came onshore around 8 pm EDT in Southern New Jersey with an impressive central pressure of 946 mb. The post-tropical cyclone tracked west across Pennsylvania overnight on October 29 and brought damaging winds and prolonged rainfall to Northern Ohio. Northerly winds were especially strong downwind of Lake Erie with a peak gust to 68 mph reported at Cleveland Hopkins Airport. The strong winds caused extensive tree damage with widespread power outages and caused structural damage to some buildings. Power outages associated with this storm exceeded 250,000 customers across Northern Ohio, with over 160,000 outages in Cuyahoga County alone. Power wasn't restored in some areas for over a week. The Cleveland Metro area was particularly hard hit by this storm with many area schools closed for 2 days. Air traffic was stopped at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport from late on October 29 to approximately noon on October 30. Some significant damage to note included siding torn off the exterior of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Other peak winds gusts included 67 mph at Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport; 63 mph at the Lorain County Airport; 61 mph at the Conneaut Lighthouse in Ashtabula County; 60 mph at the Fairport Harbor Lighthouse in Lake County; 59 mph at Marblehead Lighthouse in Ottawa County and 58 mph at the Huron Lighthouse in Erie County.

Also to note was a 2-3 foot storm surge along the south shore of Lake Erie accompanied by 15 to 20 foot waves. Water crashing over the break wall closed Interstate 90 on the east side of Cleveland for several hours. Area marinas sustained damage with reports of many personal watercraft submerged and additional boats drifting out into the lake. According to the Coast Guard, 118 vessels were either sunk or significantly damaged. Beach erosion was reported at numerous beaches and sand had to be cleared from the roadways along E. Perry St. in Port Clinton.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 417465. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.