National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce
April 19-20, 2011
Tornado East of Groveport, OH

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH
1041 AM EDT TUE APR 26 2011

...TORNADO CONFIRMED 2 MILES EAST-NORTHEAST OF GROVEPORT IN
FRANKLIN COUNTY OHIO...

LOCATION...2 MILES EAST-NORTHEAST OF GROVEPORT IN FRANKLIN COUNTY
OHIO
DATE...APRIL 20 2011
ESTIMATED TIME...227 AM EDT
MAXIMUM EF-SCALE RATING...EF0
ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED...83 MPH
MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH...50 YARDS
PATH LENGTH...250 YARDS
BEGINNING LAT/LON...39.8552N/82.8509W
ENDING LAT/LON...39.8552N/82.8481W
* FATALITIES...0
* INJURIES...0

* THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO
CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENT(S) AND PUBLICATION IN NWS
STORM DATA.

...SUMMARY...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON OH HAS CONFIRMED A
TORNADO 2 MILES EAST-NORTHEAST OF GROVEPORT IN FRANKLIN COUNTY OHIO
ON APRIL 20 2011.

DAMAGE CONSISTENT WITH AN EF0 TORNADO WAS OBSERVED AT A GREENHOUSE
COMPLEX ON RAGER RD BETWEEN GROVEPORT RD AND US 33. TWELVE
GREENHOUSES CONSTRUCTED OF METAL POLES OVERLAID WITH A PLASTIC
MATERIAL WERE DAMAGED TO VARIOUS DEGREES. THE GREENHOUSE FARTHEST WEST
WAS HIT FIRST BY THE CIRCULATION... AND ALMOST COMLETELY
DESTROYED. MANY OF THE PLANTS INSIDE THE GREENHOUSES WERE LOW TO
THE GROUND, AND SUSTAINED VERY LITTLE DAMAGE. A METAL DOOR ON A
SMALL WAREHOUSE ATTACHED TO THE GREENHOUSES WAS BENT OUT TO THE
SOUTH... TOWARD THE CENTER LINE OF THE PATH. BALLED AND BURLAPPED
TREES NORTH-NORTHWEST OF THE FIRST DESTROYED GREENHOUSE WERE ALSO
PULLED SOUTH TOWARD THE CENTER LINE OF THE PATH. THESE TREES WERE
6-12 FEET IN HEIGHT. THIS MOVEMENT OCCURRED WHILE THE OVERALL WIND
WITH THE SQUALL LINE WAS FROM THE WEST-SOUTHWEST.

ADDITIONAL DAMAGE AT THIS LOCATION INCLUDED PLANT TRANSPORT CARTS
PULLED SOUTH FROM A LOADING DOCK INTO A SMALL POND IMMEDIATELY
EAST OF THE GREENHOUSES. A SMALL METAL STORAGE SHED TOWARD THE END
OF THE OBSERVED PATH WAS ALSO HEAVILY DISTORTED. TREES WEST OF THE
DAMAGE PATH... AND A HOUSE IMMEDIATELY EAST OF THE PATH WERE NOT
DAMAGED.

THIS INFORMATION CAN ALSO BE FOUND ON OUR WEBSITE AT
WEATHER.GOV/ILN.

FOR REFERENCE...THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO
THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:

EF0...WIND SPEEDS 65 TO 85 MPH.
EF1...WIND SPEEDS 86 TO 110 MPH.
EF2...WIND SPEEDS 111 TO 135 MPH.
EF3...WIND SPEEDS 136 TO 165 MPH.
EF4...WIND SPEEDS 166 TO 200 MPH.
EF5...WIND SPEEDS GREATER THAN 200 MPH.

$$

SHOBE2