EF2 Tornado — Ashtabula, Ohio

2017-11-05 · near Wick, Ashtabula, Ohio

Event narrative

An EF0 tornado touched downed in a field in rural Wayne Township near the southern border of Ashtabula County. The initial touchdown occurred along Hayes Road about half way between U.S. Route 322 and the county line. A few trees were downed in the area. The tornado continued east northeast across mainly farm land while quickly intensifying to EF1 intensity. The tornado eventually reached the Williamsfield area and crossed State Route 7 just south of its intersection with U.S. Route 322. It then intensified to EF2 strength and roughly followed U.S. 322 for close to two miles. The tornado then took a turn to the northeast as it crossed Simons South Road and lifted just as it reached the Pennsylvania state line. The worst damage was observed along U.S. 322 east of State Route 7. Around 20 properties were affected by the tornado. At least four homes were destroyed with eight more sustaining major damage. The other homes along the damage path sustained lesser amounts of damage. The four destroyed homes were all within a third of mile from each other on U.S. 322. A couple garages along U.S. 322 were also leveled and tree damage was extensive. Debris was observed scattered in fields across the area. The damage path was over six and a half miles in length and up to 200 yards in width. It took several days for power to be restored in the Williamsfield area. No injuries were reported.

Wider weather episode

A cold front moved across the Ohio Valley and southern Great Lakes on the afternoon of Sunday, November 5th, 2017. Unseasonably warm and humid air was in place across the region ahead of the front. The cold front gradually progressed across the Ohio Valley and thunderstorms initiated and swept east ahead of the front. The storms formed in a very strong wind field and allowed the storms to move very rapidly east at speeds of 60 to 80 mph. A large macroburst formed and swept east just south of Cleveland and produced winds in excess of 100 mph. The most concentrated damage stretched from southern Lorain County across Cuyahoga County and into northern Summit, northern Portage and southern Geauga Counties. A 105 mph thunderstorm wind gust was measured at Aurora in Portage County. In addition to the damaging winds, at least 13 tornados were reported. Three of the tornadoes reached EF2 intensity with eight EF1 tornadoes and two EF0 tornadoes. Tens of thousands of trees were downed by these storms and widespread power outages occurred. In the Cleveland area alone, over 100,000 electric customers lost power. It took several days for power to be completely restored. Dozens of homes, buildings and barns were damaged or destroyed by the tornadoes.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.5189, -80.6467)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 723678. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.