High Wind — Mahoning, Ohio

2002-03-09 to 2002-03-10 · Mahoning, Ohio

Wider weather episode

A strong and very fast moving cold front raced east across northern Ohio during the late afternoon and early evening hours. Damaging winds occurred along and behind this front. A 41 year old male was struck and killed by a falling tree in Lorain (Lorain County). A second fatality occurred in Cuyahoga Falls (Summit County) when a 63 year old male was struck and killed by a falling tree. Peak wind gusts include: 69 mph at Toledo Express Airport (Lucas County) at 258 pm; 55 mph at Mansfield Lahm Airport (Richland County) at 415 pm; 63 mph at Findlay Airport (Hancock County) at 423 pm; 62 mph at the Lorain County Airport at 429 pm; 62 mph at Cleveland Hopkins Airport (Cuyahoga County) at 448 pm; 58 mph at Toledo Metcalf Airport (Wood County); 53 mph at the Wayne County Airport at 454 pm; 51 mph at the Ashtabula County Airport at 517 pm; 60 mph at Akron-Fulton Airport (Summit County) at 520 pm; 62 mph at Akron-Canton Airport (Summit County) at 523 pm; 63 mph at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport (Trumbull County) at 607 pm; 54 mph at the Marion County Airport at 610 pm. Other measured wind gusts include; 100 mph at Bowling Green (Wood County); 78 mph at the Huron County Airport; 75 mph at Burton (Geauga County); 75 mph at Fremont Airport (Sandusky County); 74 mph at Louisville (Stark County); 65 mph at Medina (Medina County). Thousands of trees and hundreds of power poles were downed in northern Ohio. Widespread power outages occurred with several hundred thousand people without power at the peak of the storm. Over a million dollars in damage occurred at a school construction site in Struthers (Mahoning County). A fire truck responding to an emergency was blown over in Trumbull County injuring two people. Three mobile homes were destroyed in Sandusky County injuring three people. Two additional people were injured by a falling tree in Ravenna (Portage County). A large poultry farm building was leveled in Marion County. A large building collaped in North Baltimore (Wood County) and damaged two adjacent buildings forcing the closure of three businesses. A woman was seriously injured in Maple Heights (Cuyahoga County) by flying glass and debris. Several buildings were destroyed in Wyandot County and an historic covered bridge was severely damaged. Two homes were destroyed in Ottawa County. Two cargo containers were blown off of a moving train and into Sandusky Bay (Erie County). Other buildings were destroyed in Seneca, Hancock, Crawford, Morrow, Ashland and Stark counties. Hundreds of other buildings sustained damage and over 100 cars were damaged or destroyed by debris and fallen trees.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5284846. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.