National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce
June 13, 2013
Straight-Line Winds In Union County, OH

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH
312 PM EDT FRI JUN 14 2013

...STORM SURVEY IN UNION COUNTY CONFIRMS NON-TORNADIC WIND DAMAGE...

AN NWS STORM SURVEY IN UNION COUNTY CONFIRMS THAT DAMAGE IN
VARIOUS PORTIONS OF THE COUNTY WERE ALL NON-TORNADIC IN
NATURE...SUGGESTING STRONG MICROBURSTS OR STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS WERE
THE CAUSE OF DAMAGE.

PHOTOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS /COURTESY OF UNION COUNTY EMA/ CONCLUDES THE
HOUSE WHICH HAD ITS ROOF PEELED BACK ON STATE ROUTE 739 WAS NON-
TORNADIC DAMAGE...WITH WIND SPEEDS ESTIMATED AT 65 MPH. THE ROOF
WAS A FLAT RUBBER ROOF...AND TREE DAMAGE IN THE AREA SUPPORTED
THIS WIND SPEED ESTIMATE.

PHOTOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF BARNS DAMAGED ON KENNY PIKE ROAD...AND
TREE DAMAGE IN THIS AREA WERE ALSO FOUND TO BE CAUSED BY NON-
TORNADIC WINDS...ESTIMATED AT 65 MPH.

THE FOCUS OF THE DAMAGE SURVEY WAS ON TWO LOCATIONS ON STATE ROUTE
739 BETWEEN DAVIS AND EVANS ROAD IN UNION COUNTY. ON THE LEFT SIDE
OF ROUTE 739...A LARGE BARN /ESTIMATED 100 FEET X 40 FEET/ WAS
HEAVILY DAMAGED...WITH PORTIONS OF ITS ROOF CARRIED ACROSS ROUTE
739 INTO AN ADJACENT FIELD. A MICROBURST HIT THE WEST SIDE OF THE
BUILDING WHICH PUSHED IN PORTIONS OF THE WEST WALL...AND
SUBSEQUENT GUSTS LIFTED THE ROOF WHICH CAUSED TWO MORE WALLS OF
THE BARN TO COLLAPSE. A REINFORCED OFFICE PORTION OF THE LARGE
BARN REMAINED STANDING AND INTACT. ALSO AT THIS LOCATION...A
PARKED 18-WHEELER WAS TURNED ASKEW FROM WHERE IT HAD BEEN
PARKED...SEVERAL TREES HAD LARGE BRANCHES BROKEN OUT OF THE TOPS.

ACROSS THE ROAD...AT AN EGG FARM FACILITY...TIN/METAL ROOFING
MATERIAL WAS PEELED BACK ON SEVERAL OF THE BUILDINGS...WITH
ANOTHER GROVE OF TREES SUFFERING HEAVY DAMAGE...WITH LARGE
BRANCHES BROKEN OFF. THE COMBINATION OF DAMAGE INDICATORS AT THESE
ADJACENT LOCATIONS SUPPORTS A WIND SPEED OF 75 MPH.

THE NWS WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE EXTENSIVE ASSISTANCE OF THE UNION
COUNTY EMA AND LIBERTY TOWNSHIP FIRE DEPT FOR NUMEROUS
PHOTOGRAPHS...FIRST HAND ACCOUNTS OF DAMAGE...AND ACCESS TO THE
DAMAGE LOCATIONS.

$$

BINAU