The National Weather Service has confirmed it – the tornado-like weather event in Middletown that looked and acted like a tornado was, indeed, a tornado.
Gusty winds and clashing fronts brought several tornadoes to southwestern and central Ohio on Feb. 27, the National Weather Service said after an investigation. Residents in Middletown, Orient (near Columbus) and New Carlisle/Pike Township (near Springfield) reported seeing funnel clouds in those areas, but the NWS outpost in Wilmington said it needed to review damage and other factors before classifying the phenomena as tornadoes.
In its preliminary report, the NWS classified the Middletown tornado as an EF1 that touched down at Jacksonburg Road near Oxford Middletown Road at 2:37 p.m. Feb. 27. Over the course of six minutes and 4.2 miles, the tornado snapped trees, removed shingles and plywood from buildings, blew a roof off a house and leveled a barn, the NWS said. It reached a maximum of 110 MPH with its widest path at 150 yards.
The NWS said that Butler County's emergency management team assisted with the investigation in Middletown.
The New Carlisle tornado also was an EF1, reaching 90-95 MPH, the NWS said. That tornado traveled for just two minutes beginning at 3:19 p.m., but it uprooted trees, caused moderate roof damage to homes and destroyed a garage door over 2.3 miles.
The tornado in Orient wasn't quite as severe, with the NWS classifying it as an EF0 with winds reaching 85 MPH. It touched down at 4:03 p.m. and flipped two trailers, damaged some abandoned structures and lifting a garage roof. This tornado traveled for 1.4 miles, the agency reported.
Reports for all three tornadoes are posted to the NWS website.
The NWS outpost in Wilmington said that Kentucky is conducting tornado drills on Wednesday as part of the state's Severe Weather Awareness Week. In December of 2021, the Commonwealth suffered dozens of deaths and millions of dollars worth of damages due to a series of tornadoes that raged for more than 200 miles.
In July, three tornadoes ripped through Brown and Clermont counties in Ohio, causing extensive damage and pushing Gov. Mike DeWine to declare a local state of emergency.
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