The severe weather season of 2023 was a very active one here in Northeast Ohio. The amount of tornadoes was impressive for the region especially.
This year, every county in the News 5 Viewing area saw at least one Tornado Warning during 2023. This has not happened in the records I was able to access, which date back to the mid-1980s.
Several counties were under Tornado Warnings more than once during 2023 across the viewing area, and of note, Ashland, Erie and Ottawa counties saw six warnings during 2023. Wayne County saw five warnings this year.
Now, with all the warnings, how many actual tornadoes actually touched down, you may ask, because not every warning is an actual tornado touchdown.
Well, in the state of Ohio in 2023, the preliminary count is that 56 tornadoes touched down, and five were possible EF-2 or higher, meaning winds of 111 to 135 mph were possible from those tornadoes.
Here is a map of the touchdowns across Ohio via the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center:
Of those 56 touchdowns, roughly 25 tornadoes were in the News 5 viewing area. Just under half for the entire state of Ohio.
There were two big outbreaks in 2023, one in June and one in August.
The one in August was much more far-reaching across the region compared to the one in June, which was more of a western outbreak.
So, that leaves one question, why so many tornado warnings and touchdowns in 2023? Well, this year, there was a blocking pattern in the atmosphere across the southwestern part of the county. It was a heat dome that baked the southwest for a good chunk of the summer. What was around that dome we call the "Ring of Fire." Like that of the one in the Pacific Ocean that causes earthquakes, this Ring of Fire caused a very stormy and active pattern to stay over the same areas for most of the Summer.
This type of pattern can set up for days, weeks or months at a time across the county, and this year, in particular, was the setup for most of the summer.
Along with the increase in tornadoes, the pattern brought many rainy weekends across Northeast Ohio and at the end of August, some of the highest rainfall totals for 24 hours. Cleveland saw over 2.5 inches, and some areas saw well above 3 inches of rain.
Only time will tell what we can expect in 2024 in regards to severe weather. The one thing I do know is that the Power of 5 Weather Team will be with you every step of the way.
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