CLEVELAND — Following Tuesday's severe storms that caused widespread damage across Northeast Ohio and caused nearly half a million people to lose power, the National Weather Service confirmed four tornadoes touched down in the area. The NWS will continue to survey several other communities on Thursday, which means this number may rise.
4. KIRTLAND TO CHESTERLAND
The NWS confirmed a fourth tornado, classified as an EF-1, touched down Tuesday in Lake County and stopped in Geauga County.
The twister started in Kirtland at 4:31 p.m. on Worrell Road and traveled east-southeast across Tibbets Road, uprooting trees and snapping power lines as it crossed Chillicothe and Mulberry roads. Some houses were damaged by falling trees.
It stopped at 4:38 p.m. on Wilson Mills Road in Chesterland, having traveled 4.79 miles. It had a max width of 200 yards and a peak wind speed of 110 mph.
No injuries were reported.
News 5's Remi Murrey was on the scene in Kirtland in the aftermath of the storm.
RELATED: Clean-up underway in Kirtland, Chester Township, following massive storm
“We’ve had others that blew through, but this one was just all there and then nothing, and it did all this damage," Jan Kostrab said.
3. BRECKSVILLE/RICHFIELD TO PENINSULA/BOSTON
On Thursday, the NWS said an EF-1 tornado touched down at 4:20 p.m. at a commercial warehouse on Columbia Road in Richfield and traveled east 3.32 miles before stopping at 4:25 p.m. in Peninsula.
The twister tore off the east-end part of the warehouse's roof and knocked over 11 semi-truck trailers.
It had a peak wind speed of 104 MPH and a path width of 150 yards. It took down trees and power line poles as it moved southeast before stopping on the north side of I-80 Cuyahoga Valley Bridge west of Riverview Road in Boston, the NWS said.
The NWS confirmed the first two tornadoes a day earlier.
2. AVON LAKE TO ROCKY RIVER TORNADO
On Wednesday, the NWS in Cleveland confirmed an EF-1 tornado touched down at 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday in Avon Lake in Lorain County and stayed on the ground until 3:56 p.m. and lifted in Rocky River. The tornado had peak winds of 110 mph, was 200 yards wide, and was on the ground for 8.42 miles. This tornado did not result in any fatalities or injuries.
According to the NWS, the tornado began near Wedgewood Drive in Avon Lake with multiple trees snapped and a trampoline lifted from the backyard and placed in the street. The tornado continued to move east, snapping multiple trees and removing shingles from a roof on Teasel Court. Sporadic tree damage occurred as the tornado continued East into Bay Village.
Widespread tree damage occurred in Huntington Reservation, and numerous trees were twisted, snapped, and uprooted nearby on Wolf Road and West Oakland Road. Multiple structures were damaged due to down trees in this area, including a roof crushed by a tree on West Oakland Road, a roof damaged by a tree, and multiple sheds damaged or crushed.
The tornado produced sporadic tree damage or briefly lifted before snapping the tops of trees and large limbs on East Oakland Road in Bay Village. A front porch was damaged by a downed tree in this area.
Sporadic damage occurred East-Southeast to Laurel Avenue in Rocky River, where a healthy oak tree fell across two homes. Both homes had roof damage, with the brick exterior displaced on the north-facing side of the home and scoring on brick on the east-facing side of the home. The tornado dissipated after snapping several healthy oak trees on Wooster Road near Laurel Avenue; one tree fell on and destroyed a deck.
1. BROOKPARK TO BEDFORD HEIGHTS TORNADO
A second tornado was confirmed in Cuyahoga, a few miles south of the first tornado. The EF-1 tornado started at 3:59 pm in Brookpark, stayed on the ground for 25 minutes and traveled 17 miles into Bedford Heights. It had a peak wind speed of 104 mph and was 350 yards wide. No fatalities or injuries were reported from this tornado.
The NWS confirmed a tornado touched down in Brookpark near Holland Rd. with scattered limbs down. Metal roofing was torn off a portion of the roof at the Brookpark Recreation Center. Extensive damage to trees was noted along the majority of the path with downed limbs, some twisted, and other trees snapped off at the trunk. Numerous trees landed on homes and cars and took down power lines.
A garage with metal siding collapsed near Carol Drive and Middlebrook Boulevard, where damage was also sustained to a neighbor's garage with most of a covered patio destroyed. Numerous power poles were leaning or downed along West 130th Street.
Damage continued to the East through Parma Heights and Parma, where numerous power poles were leaning and partially down in yards and homes along West Ridgewood Drive across from the Shoppes at Parma.
The path of tree damage continued through Seven Hills, especially along Chestnut Road, with intermittent damage noted through Independence and east of the Cuyahoga River.
Extensive tree damage was noted in Valley View along Stone Road, where several large trees were uprooted with some falling on homes. Strips of siding were torn off many homes in this area and lofted.
Occasional trees were noted to have fallen to the North and Northwest along the path. The path continued into Bedford, where another neighborhood saw significant damage south of Turney Road.
Trees were down on several homes and at least a portion of a roof was ripped off with damage to a chimney. A new shed that was strongly secured was destroyed, and splattering of debris was noted on homes.
Several homes had areas with siding removed and thrown. The damage path continued east through Bedford Reservation, with damage noted on Union Street and into the Bedford Cemetery. Damage became intermittent to the east as the tornado dissipated.
MACROBURST IN MULTIPLE COUNTIES
During Tuesday's storms, there was a macroburst in Eastern Cuyahoga, Western Lake and Northwest Geauga counties, according to the NWS.
A macroburst is a convective downdraft with an affected outflow area of at least 2.5 miles wide and peak winds lasting between 5 and 20 minutes. Intense macrobursts may cause tornado-force damage of up to F3 intensity.
The macroburst started at 4:20 p.m. in Eastlake and ended in Chesterland at 4:50 p.m. Its path length and width were about 15 miles, and it had a peak wind speed of 90 mph, the NWS said.
No injuries or fatalities were reported from the macroburst, but it caused extensive damage to trees, wires and power lines. There was limited damage to a few houses due to downed trees, the NWS said.
POWER OUTAGES:
According to FirstEnergy, around 470,000 Ohioans in the News 5 viewing area lost power. As of 2 p.m.Thursday, the following counties were dealing with power outages.
- Cuyahoga: 173,528
- Ashtabula: 7,854
- Geauga: 20,012
- Lake: 40,616
- Lorain: 12,727
- Portage: 1,516
- Summit: 462
- Trumbull: 2,594
The entirety of the News 5 viewing area was under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning at one point, and half a dozen counties were under a Tornado Warning. By the time the storms passed out of our area, trees were felled, power lines had been ripped down, and even boats at the marina in Lorain had capsized.
RELATED: Storms tear through Northeast Ohio, leaving hundreds of thousands without power
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