National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Heat Continues for the East and South-Central U.S.; Strong to Severe Storms Across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast

The extremely dangerous heat wave continues across the East Coast and much of the South-Central U.S. today. Record high temperatures are expected for some areas especially across the Mid-Atlantic where extreme heat risk conditions reside. There is a Slight Risk (level 2 of 5) of severe thunderstorms today for the northern Mid-Atlantic into portions of southern New England. Read More >

December 24, 2014
Tornado near Lancaster, OH



PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...CORRECTED TIME
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH
1022 AM EST FRI DEC 26 2014

...BRIEF AND WEAK TORNADO NEAR LANCASTER IN FAIRFIELD COUNTY OHIO
ON DECEMBER 24TH 2014...

LOCATION...2 MILES WNW OF LANCASTER IN FAIRFIELD COUNTY OHIO
DATE...DECEMBER 24, 2014
ESTIMATED TIME...5:16 PM EST
MAXIMUM EF-SCALE RATING...EF0
ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED...70 MPH
MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH...30 YARDS
PATH LENGTH...0.6 MILE
BEGINNING LAT/LON...39.728N/82.634W
ENDING LAT/LON...39.733N/82.624W
* 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 SURVEYED DAMAGE NEAR
LANCASTER IN FAIRFIELD COUNTY OHIO ON DECEMBER 24, 2014.

IN COLLABORATION WITH FAIRFIELD COUNTY EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT...ANALYSIS OF DAMAGE THAT OCCURRED IN THE VICINITY OF
THE RIVER VALLEY MALL NORTHWEST OF LANCASTER WAS LIKELY CAUSED BY
A BRIEF TORNADO WEDNESDAY EVENING.

DAMAGE INCLUDED A TRAVEL TRAILER TO THE SOUTHWEST OF THE RIVER
VALLEY MALL OFF OF FAIR AVENUE...TREE DAMAGE IN THE VICINITY OF
THE HOCKING RIVER...A PICKUP TRUCK FLIPPED ON ITS TOP IN THE RIVER
VALLEY MALL PARKING LOT...NUMEROUS CARS WITH WINDOWS BLOWN
OUT IN VICINITY OF THE RIVER VALLEY MALL...TREES AND LIGHT POLES
BROKEN OFF...AND ROOF DAMAGE TO AN ADJACENT STORAGE BUILDING.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WISHES TO THANK THE FAIRFIELD COUNTY
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND LOCAL BROADCAST MEDIA FOR PHOTOGRAPHS AND
ASSISTANCE IN THIS SURVEY.

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.

$$

JDR/SEB