PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH
500 PM EDT THU SEP 21 2000

...XENIA TORNADO REACHED F4 INTENSITY WITH 8-9 MILE PATH LENGTH...

THE INITIAL TORNADO TOUCHDOWN IN GREENE COUNTY WAS ON A GOLF
COURSE APPROXIMATELY 2 MILES SOUTHWEST OF THE GREENE COUNTY AIRPORT. 
CYCLONIC SWIRLS IN CORN AND BEAN FIELDS, AS WELL AS NUMEROUS SNAPPED 
AND TWISTED TREES MARKED A DISCONTINUOUS PATH NORTHEAST TOWARD XENIA.
A RESIDENCE ON VAN EATON ROAD, APPROXIMATELY 4 MILES SOUTHWEST OF XENIA... 
SUFFERED SIGNIFICANT ROOF AND OUTBUILDING DAMAGE.

THE STORM CROSSED THE HIGHWAY 35 BY-PASS NEAR UPPER BELLBROOK ROAD, 
APPROXIMATELY 2 MILES WEST OF DOWNTOWN XENIA.  SEVERAL CARS WERE
THROWN FROM THE BYPASS INTO DITCHES AT THIS LOCATION, AND JUST TO THE 
NORTH OF THE BYPASS CROPS WERE COMPLETELY SCOURED FROM A FIELD.

THE TORNADO CONTINUED TO MOVE EAST-NORTHEAST, AND CROSSED HIGHWAY
35 NEAR HEDGER STREET.  SEVERAL RETAIL STORES, INCLUDING A WAL-MART
AND TIRE DISCOUNTERS SUFFERED SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE. THE TIRE STORE WAS 
ALMOST COMPLETELY DEMOLISHED, AND THE STORM CUT A CLEAR PATH THROUGH 
THE BUILDING NEXT TO WAL-MART.  THE TORNADO THEN MOVED THROUGH A 
RESIDENTIAL AREA NORTHWEST OF DOWNTOWN XENIA, TOWARD THE FAIRGROUNDS AREA. 
THE DAMAGE PATH REACHED A MAXIMUM OF 500 YARDS IN THIS AREA, AND MANY 
HOMES WERE HEAVILY DAMAGED.  A LINE OF 4-5 HOMES LESS THAN HALF A MILE FROM 
THE RETAIL CENTER SUFFERED SOME OF THE WORST DAMAGE, WITH 1 OF THE HOMES 
COMPLETELY DESTROYED WITH NO INTERIOR WALLS LEFT STANDING.  F-4 INTENSITY 
WAS BRIEFLY REACHED IN THIS AREA.

A BUSINESS ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE FAIRGROUNDS HAD A BLOCK CONSTRUCTION 
WAREHOUSE COMPLETELY DESTROYED.  4 SEMI TRAILERS WHICH HAD BEEN PARKED 
NEAR THE BUSINESS WERE PICKED UP AND SCATTERED, WITH ONE TRAILER TOSSED 
OVER 400 YARDS INTO THE FAIRGROUNDS PROPERTY.  DAMAGE TO THE FAIRGROUNDS 
ITSELF WAS ALSO EXTREME, WITH MANY BUILDINGS HEAVILY DAMAGED.

ADDITIONAL RESIDENCES WERE STRUCK BY THE TORNADO NORTHEAST OF THE 
FAIRGROUNDS.  A COUPLE LARGE HOMES WERE LEFT WITH ONLY 1 OR 2 INTERIOR 
WALLS LEFT STANDING.  THE STORM CONTINUED TO MOVE EAST NORTHEAST AWAY 
FROM XENIA, WITH THE FINAL EVIDENCE OF TORNADIC DAMAGE IN A FIELD 
APPROXIMATELY 1 MILE NORTH OF CENTRAL STATE COLLEGE.

...DELAWARE AND LICKING COUNTY TORNADO WAS F2 INTENSITY...

A SECOND TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN SOUTHEAST DELAWARE COUNTY, THEN 
TRAVERSED EAST NORTHEAST ON A BROKEN 25 MILE PATH THROUGH LICKING COUNTY 
INTO KNOX COUNTY.  THE INITIAL TOUCHDOWN OCCURRED ALONG HARLEM ROAD, 
APPROXIMATELY 1 MILE NORTH OF THE FRANKLIN COUNTY LINE.  2 HIGH TENSION 
POWER LINE TOWERS WERE FOLDED OVER, A HOUSE LOST ITS ROOF, AND SEVERAL 
OUTBUILDINGS WERE DESTROYED AT THIS LOCATION.

THE STORM THEN MOVED THROUGH THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF LICKING COUNTY, 
TEARING ROOFS OFF SEVERAL HOUSES, DESTROYING A FEW BARNS AND OUTBUILDINGS, 
AND HEAVILY DAMAGING THE CROTON EGG FARM.  A CLEAR CYCLONIC SWIRL WAS 
EVIDENT IN THE CORNFIELDS ALONG THE ENTIRE PATH.

$$

TPJ