Tornado near Lancaster, OH

Heavy Great Lakes Snow through Friday; Extreme Cold and Potential for Major Winter Storm Late Week into this Weekend

Multiple clipper systems will bring cold temperatures and enhance lake-effect snow downwind of the Great Lakes. An arctic blast will bring frigid temperatures accompanied with gusty winds that may lead to dangerous wind chills beginning in the Northern Plains Thursday before expanding to the South and East. An expansive winter storm will start Friday in the Southern Rockies/Plains and Mid-South. Read More >

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