According to a report from Axios Columbus, Ohio has already tied the record for most tornadoes in a year and it’s only June.
The Axios report indicates the state has experienced 62 tornadoes in 2024, matching the record set in 1992. Last year saw 60 tornadoes in Ohio according to the National Weather Service’s Wilmington, Ohio office.
The National Weather Service (NWS) created a database of Ohio’s tornado activity. According to that database, Wood County has experienced 28 tornadoes since 1950, more than any bordering county – Hancock (16), Henry (20), Lucas (12), Ottawa (13), Sandusky (12), Seneca (23) – and tied for 11th out of Ohio’s 88 counties.
According to the NWS, the last recorded sighting in Wood County was August 24, 2016, though one Facebook user captured video of a funnel cloud in Southwest Wood County on May 7 of this year.
In a separate article earlier this month, Axios reported on a study indicating “Tornado Alley” is moving our way. While there are no definitive boundaries for Tornado Alley, this Wikipedia map shows its general boundaries:
Dan Craggs, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
But according to the study analyzed by Axios, the area is moving east, putting midwest states like Ohio and states in the South in a higher danger of experiencing twisters. The study also found warm weather tornadoes have declined by 37%, illustrated by major storms at the end of February and early March that accounted for most all of this year’s tornado sightings.
Additional tornado resources:
- The difference between tornado watch and tornado warning
- Being prepared for a tornado
- What do do during a tornado
