EF3 Tornado — Mercer, Ohio

2019-05-27 · near Durbin, Mercer, Ohio

Event narrative

The tornado appeared to have first touched down west of Celina, near the intersection of Township Line Road and Bunker Hill Road, where about half of a barn's metal roof was removed and strewn in a narrow path to the east-northeast. At least two other barns also lost nearly half of their metal roofing in the vicinity of Bunker Hill Road. Numerous trees in this area, with trunk diameters of 18 to 24 inches, were also snapped and blown down in various directions. This type of damage was consistent with wind speeds of up to 90 mph and associated with an EF1 tornado.

The next damage occurred to homes and adjacent outbuildings along Mud Pike Road, immediately southeast of the intersection with State Route 118. Two homes retained their main roof structure but many shingles were removed. Two outbuildings and a larger barn were destroyed, likely resulting from EF1 tornado winds of 100 to 110 mph. Additional damage occurred along Hellwarth Road, just south of the intersection with Fairground Road. Several homes and outbuildings were damaged, with the most serious being a home that lost much of its roof and some exterior walls. High-end EF2 tornado winds of 125 to 135 mph likely caused the worst damage at this location.

The tornado path continued generally along Fairground Road from just east of the intersection with Hellwarth Road to the western corporation limit of the city of Celina. Homes, outbuildings, trees and utility poles were damaged here, and a free-standing cellular communication tower was knocked down. At least two homes suffered partial roof loss and one home lost its entire roof. The cellular tower was a lattice structure at least 300 feet tall and two of the three support attachments at the ground were broken. A 50 to 100 yard swath of trees were snapped and uprooted in a forested area leading up to the western edge of Celina. The damage to the cellular tower and trees was indicative of EF2 tornado wind speeds of 125 to 135 mph.

More substantial damage was observed just inside the western corporation limit of the city of Celina, along Fairground Road. At least a dozen homes were severely damaged here, with roofs completely uplifted and removed, along with many exterior walls collapsed. One residence was completely lifted from its foundation, with interior walls largely intact, and dropped in an adjoining field approximately 70 yards to the north-northeast. This residence was anchored to a cinder block foundation, with the upper level or two of blocks breaking from the rest under the force of the wind. Significant mud spatter was also observed on what remained of these homes, especially on the north and northeast facing sides, implying a strongly rotating column of air in contact with a nearby muddy field. This type of damage was consistent with wind speeds up to 150 mph and associated with an EF3 tornado. In this area along Fairground Road, a vehicle was thrown into a house, killing a person inside of the house.

Significant damage continued into a cluster of homes near and northwest of the intersection of Fairground Road and Touvelle Street in Celina. At least two dozen of these homes had partial or complete roof failure and many exterior walls collapsed. Two residences on either side of Jill Avenue were missing large portions of their exterior walls, indicative of winds as high as 140 to 150 mph and associated with an EF3 tornado. Evidence of multiple vortices within the tornado was also evident in the debris pattern here. Several cars were displaced by the wind and uplift in this neighborhood. A thick layer of mud was also spattered on the east and northeast facing sides of these structures, largely opposite the direction of the incoming tornado.

The degree and extent of damage started to gradually lessen east-northeast from near Touvelle Street to U.S. 127. From there the tornado continued to track farther northeast to near the community of Neptune. An approximately 100 yard swath of trees were snapped and uprooted in a small forested area between U.S. 127 and Celina-Mendon Road, north of Myers Road. A garage roof was displaced off the main structure along Celina-Mendon Road, between State Route 197 and Howick Road, causing exterior walls to also collapse. This damage was likely the result of EF2 tornado winds of 115 to 125 mph.

A garage was destroyed along State Route 197, just northeast of the intersection with Rice Road. A house farther northeast along Riley Road, just south of the intersection with State Route 197, suffered partial roof removal along with the collapse of a few exterior walls. Based on the damage, wind speeds here were estimated to be at the upper-end of the EF1 range, between 100 and 110 mph. A debris path was evident into the field immediately east-northeast, where the tornado appeared to finally lift.

Wider weather episode

Thunderstorms developed during the evening hours along a warm front lifting slowly north across the region. Many of the thunderstorms produced tornadoes, including a few strong to violent tornadoes.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.5515, -84.6911)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 817483. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.