Monitoring Tsunami Impacts Across the Pacific; Air Quality Concerns; Dangerous Heat; Critical Fire Weather for the West

Tsunami impacts continue for portions of the Pacific basin. Wildfire smoke causes unhealthy air in Midwest to Great Lakes. Heat dome spans Mississippi Valley to Mid-Atlantic with excessive heat warnings and advisories. Critical fire weather in Great Basin to Pacific Northwest (dry thunderstorms). Cold front spawns severe storms/heavy rain in Central U.S. today, shifts to East Coast Thursday. Read More >

February 6, 2008
Severe Weather & Flooding

A powerful storm system moved across the Ohio Valley February 5 and 6, producing widespread damage and flooding. As low pressure deepened over the Middle Mississippi Valley late Tuesday, a warm front lifted north and stalled across northern Ohio. This led to numerous rounds of showers and thunderstorms across much of the region, with the heaviest (4 to 7 inches) falling across west central and northwest Ohio. This led to widespread flooding across Mercer and Auglaize Counties where countless roads were closed and dozens of people were evacuated.

As the low moved eastward late Tuesday night, a cold front approached from the west, and a line of severe storms developed across the Mid-Mississippi and lower Ohio Valleys. This line quickly raced eastward and moved into parts of Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio after midnight. The airmass ahead of the line of storms was very warm and humid for February (record highs were set at Dayton, Cincinnati and Columbus on Tuesday). This led to an unstable airmass, which combined with extreme low-level wind shear to sustain this line of storms as it moved across the Wilmington county warning area. Numerous reports of wind damage were received, with some of the heaviest damage focused across parts of south central Ohio and northern Kentucky.

Damage Survey Results

Local Storm Reports