EF2 Tornado — Crawford, Ohio

2017-09-04 · near North Robinson, Crawford, Ohio

Event narrative

An EF0 tornado touched down in rural Crawford County about three quarters of a mile west of North Robinson. The initial touchdown was in a cornfield west of Olentangy Road about half way between Lower Leesville Road and Crestline Road. The tornado then continued east and moved across the northern half of North Robinson causing extensive damage. The tornado briefly reached EF2 intensity as it moved through the town. Several garages were destroyed and one home was heavily damaged after losing a large section of roof. Other homes along the path sustained lesser amounts of damage, mainly in the form of lost siding or shingles. One home did have a brick chimney toppled. Tree damage in the town was extensive. The tornado continued east over open farmland and eventually crossed the Sandusky River. The tornado then intensified to EF2 as it crossed State Route 598 north of Leesville. A home along State Route 598 was blown of it's foundation and destroyed. A second home nearby lost large sections of roofing. The tornado then continued east northeast snapping dozens of hardwood trees and leveling three farm buildings near where the Lincoln Highway and Krichbaum Road intersect. The tornado then followed a track nearly parallel and just north of Krichbaum Road for a couple of miles. Several more farm buildings were damaged or destroyed and a home lost a portion of its roof before the tornado crossed into Richland County north of the intersection of Krichbaum Road and Crawford Richland Line Road. The tornado was on the ground for just over 8 miles in Crawford County and had a damage path of up to 400 yards in width. Hundreds of trees and many power poles were downed along the damage path.

Wider weather episode

A strong cold front crossed northern Ohio during the evening of September 4th. A line of showers and thunderstorms developed ahead of this front and moved across the region. A long track tornado caused damage in the Mansfield area. There were also reports of severe weather elsewhere across northern Ohio.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.7892, -82.8770)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 721930. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.