This week marked two years since multiple tornadoes touched down in our area causing significant damage.
The city of Celina was one of the hardest hit communities in Ohio as tornadoes left paths of destruction on Memorial Day of 2019. Neighborhoods looked more like a war zone with some vehicles flipped over like matchbox toys and homes left nearly unrecognizable. This particular twister remained on the ground for 11 miles, with additional touchdowns through Auglaize County and even into Hardin County. A total of five tornadoes were confirmed in our area. Surveillance video out of Waynesfield-Goshen schools captured the swirling winds from the tornado as it passed over in just seconds. Daylight revealed scattered areas of debris across central Auglaize County in the wake of the twisters.
Meanwhile, this year, you might be thinking storms have been largely missing this spring. That assumption would be correct. Just looking at thunderstorm days for May, Lima has only recorded three days with thunder. In a normal May, that number is closer to seven days. Even more remarkable, only 12 severe weather warnings have been issued by the National Weather Service in all of Ohio so far this year. That is the lowest count to date since 1990, and the second lowest count this late in the season. Nationally, the number of tornadoes is also lower than normal. A total of 545 tornadoes have been observed through late May, while that number would normally be well over 700.
As tame as the storm season has been, it is important to know that peak tornado season in Ohio runs from May through July, a period that normally sees over half of our annual tornadoes. A wise professor once told me, "never say never when discussing weather," and I think we can all agree that certainly applies to Ohio's weather.
