The number of tornadoes resulting from the June 15 storms in the region now stands at 13, the National Weather Service reports.
They include two in Lucas County at Point Place and Maumee Bay State Park, 10 others in portions of northern Ohio, and one 25 miles north of Toledo at Detroit Beach.
Cleanup efforts are continuing in affected areas. No major injuries are reported from the evening storms.
The weather service office at Cleveland debuted a special web page detailing the storm and displaying an archived radar loop showing the storm on the move.
"A particularly intense supercell (rotating thunderstorm) developed near the Ohio/Michigan border just north of Toledo and tracked across parts of Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky, Erie, Huron, Seneca, Richland, Ashland, and Wayne counties," a weather service statement details.
This supercell was responsible for hail to at least the size of tennis balls reported near Toledo and multiple reports of hail to golf ball sized or larger as the storm continued southeast, the weather service said.
Besides the tornadoes in Lucas County, the Ohio list included:
- a tornado in Ottawa County, 3 miles south of Oak Harbor. That one, featuring 130 mph winds, damaged five homes.
- three tornadoes in Sandusky County (Vickery, Rice Township, and Bellevue).
- five tornadoes in Huron County (Peru Township, northeast Peru Township, east Greenfield Township, North Fairfield, and Greenwich).
- An additional tornado was confirmed in the Ashland County community of Nankin, northeast of the city of Ashland, about 100 miles southeast of Toledo.
The tornado at Point Place featured winds of 130 mph while 80 mph winds were recorded at the Maumee Bay State Park.
A weak surface low pressure developed along this front over southern Michigan earlier in the day and moved southeast across the western tip of Lake Erie during the evening of June 15, the weather service said. "Thunderstorms erupted along the cold front near Toledo just before 6 p.m."
Additional storm activity was anticipated for Sunday in the region.
"There is a marginal risk for severe thunderstorms across the area Sunday," the weather service said in a statement. "The threats appear to be large hail and damaging winds."
Showers and thunderstorms were forecast mainly before 1 a.m. Monday. “Some storms could be severe, with large hail, damaging winds, and heavy rain,” the forecast stated.
First Published June 24, 2023, 6:03 p.m.
