UPDATED: National Weather Service confirms tornado in Adams County
The National Weather Service in Wilmington OH is working through storm damage reports and radar data to help determine where tornadoes may have occurred April 2. Thus far, four tornadoes have been confirmed.
As of Thursday at 4 p.m., the NWS has verified EF1 tornadoes touched down in Adams County and Licking County, Ohio; in Mason County, Ky.; and in Ohio County, Ind.
The Adams County tornado is believed to have started at 7:46 p.m. and ended at 7:57 p.m. It had an estimated maximum wind speed of 100 mph, a maximum path width of 500 yards and a path length of eight miles. One injury was reported.
The tornado began south of the intersection of Brier Ridge Road and Robinson Hollow Road southwest of West Union. Damage to trees and structures was observed with one structure on Robinson Hollow Road completely destroyed. This double-wide structure had been placed on a concrete block foundation with only two steel anchoring pins found on the northwest and southeast corners of the structure, resulting in the lower wind estimates for the observed damage. Outbuilding and tree damage was observed along Fryman Road as the tornado continued northeast.
The tornado then caused damage along Eagle Creek Road and Tomlin Road, with the Kirker Covered Bridge losing all of its roofing panels. Several well-constructed outbuildings were heavily damaged on Tomlin Road, and multiple large hardwood trees were snapped. Similar magnitude damage was observed along state Route 136 and McClanahan Road with snapped hardwoods and damage to structures. This corridor of damage likely contained the period of strongest intensity with winds estimated at 100 mph.
To the northeast, along Old Cincinnati Pike and Stan Roberts Road, the damage intensity lessened marginally as the tornado expanded to the maximum estimated width of 500 yards. Uprooted and snapped trees continued to be observed along state Route 125, Nehus Road, Chapparal Road and state Route 247.
Damage became less persistent to the northeast, but considerable tree loss at the Adams Lake State Park indicated the tornado was still on the ground northeast of West Union. The tornado is believed to have dissipated to the west of state Route 41.
The National Weather Service would like to thank the Adams County Emergency Management Agency and first responders for the assistance with this survey. Contributions from the Ohio State Highway Patrol Aviation Section are also greatly appreciated.
The information in this statement is preliminary and subject to change pending final review of the event and publication in NWS Storm Data.
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