Strong Wind & Severe Weather - October 31, 2013

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH
357 PM EDT FRI NOV 1 2013

...TORNADO CONFIRMED NEAR VANDALIA IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY OHIO...

LOCATION...VANDALIA IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY OHIO
DATE...OCT 31, 2013
ESTIMATED TIME...11:30 PM EDT
MAXIMUM EF-SCALE RATING...EF1
ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED...100-110 MPH
MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH...50 YARDS
PATH LENGTH...0.6 MILES
BEGINNING LAT/LON...39.89 / 84.19W
ENDING LAT/LON...39.89 / 84.17W
* FATALITIES...0
* INJURIES...8

* 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 NEAR VANDALIA IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY OHIO ON OCT 31, 2013.

AT 11:30 PM EDT...A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN JUST NORTHEAST OF THE
INTERSTATE 75 AND NATIONAL ROAD/US 40 EXIT IN VANDALIA. THE EF1
DAMAGE CONSISTED OF COLLAPSE OF A CINDERBLOCK DRIVE THROUGH
STORE...SIGNIFICANT DESTRUCTION OF THE ROOF AND SOME OF THE
CINDERBLOCKS ON AN UNINHABITED COMMERCIAL BUILDING. THIS STRUCTURE
ALSO HAD LARGE PLATE GLASS WINDOWS BLOWN IN. ADDITIONAL
SIGNIFICANT ROOF DAMAGE OCCURRED TO A NEIGHBORING BUSINESS...AS
WELL AS SNAPPING OF SOME POWER POLES. 

THE DAMAGE CONTINUED ON TO A SMALL RESTAURANT...IN WHICH THE
WINDOWS WERE BLOWN IN AND SIGNIFICANT FACADE AND ROOF DAMAGE
OCCURRED. THERE WERE 8 PEOPLE IN THE RESTAURANT SUSTAINING MINOR
INJURIES FROM GLASS...MOST OF WHOM WERE TREATED ON SCENE FOR THEIR
INJURIES. 

IN THE RESTAURANT PARKING LOT...THERE WERE NUMEROUS VEHICLES WHICH
HAD WINDOWS BLOWN OUT...WITH SOME VEHICLES SHIFTED OR PUSHED FROM
THEIR PARKED LOCATION. THERE WAS A LARGE PICKUP TRUCK WHICH WAS
LIFTED AND TOSSED...LANDING ON TOP OF A NEARBY VEHICLE. 

THE PATH CONTINUED INTO A RESIDENTIAL SUBDIVISION...WHERE AT LEAST
3 HOMES SUSTAINED DAMAGE WHICH RENDERED THEM UNINHABITABLE. THERE
WERE HOMES WITH PARTIAL WALL COLLAPSE AND MORE THAN HALF OF THE
ROOF REMOVED. ADDITIONAL HOMES HAD HOLES IN THE ROOF DUE TO BEING
IMPALED BY DEBRIS. THERE WAS ALSO SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE DUE TO LARGE
TREES BEING SNAPPED OFF AND DAMAGING THE HOMES. LARGE PORTIONS OF
ROOFING AND SHEDS WERE CARRIED AT LEAST A BLOCK. 

THE SURVEY TEAM ALSO OBSERVED AREAS OF STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE
SURROUNDING THE TORNADO DAMAGE PATH. DAMAGE WAS CHARACTERIZED BY
LARGE TREES EITHER TOPPLED OR SUSTAINING LARGE BRANCH DAMAGE. THIS
DAMAGE BEGAN ON THE WEST SIDE OF INTERSTATE 75 NEAR NATIONAL
ROAD...AND CONTINUED TO THE CASSEL ROAD AREA. WHILE WIND DAMAGE
HERE WAS SIGNIFICANT...THE DAMAGE WAS MORE UNIDIRECTIONAL AND NOT
CHARACTERISTIC OF TORNADIC DAMAGE.

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.

$$