• The National Weather Service confirmed tornadoes touched down in Ottawa, Huron and Lorain Counties in Ohio on June 18.
• Those three tornadoes bring Ohio’s total to 21 tornadoes so far this year.
• Ohio had seen 62 tornadoes by mid-June 2024 on the way to a record-setting 74 twisters.

Strong storms that blew through Ohio on Wednesday night, June 18, cut power to tens of thousands across the state.

They also spawned several tornadoes, the National Weather Service in Cleveland confirmed Thursday, June 19.

Three tornadoes touched down during the severe storms, downing limbs as well as snapping and uprooting trees in three Ohio counties. They also damaged homes and buildings, sending a tree into a house in one instance, shattering windows, destroying barns and silos on farms and tearing roofs off structures, per the NWS.

Where in Ohio did tornadoes hit and how strong were the twisters? Here’s what to know.

Tornadoes touch down in Ottawa, Huron and Lorain Counties

The NWS has confirmed three tornadoes touched down the evening of June 18, in Ottawa, Huron and Lorain Counties in northern Ohio.

The first touched down at 7:43 p.m. near the Village of Elmore in Ottawa County and traveled about half a mile. It was on the ground for a minute, according to NWS surveyors. The tornado damaged a metal outbuilding as well as the roof of a residence. It also destroyed a grain silo and snapped a couple of trees. The twister was rated an EF0 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale with a maximum wind speed of 80 mph.

The second struck near the Village of Rocky Ridge in Ottawa County at 7:50 p.m. and was on the ground for 2 minutes, traveling 2.94 miles. The tornado sent a tree onto a house along with other tree damage and partially tore the roof off a barn. It also produced other minor roof and facade damage and shattered a window, per NWS surveyors. This tornado was rated an EF0 with a maximum wind speed of 70 mph.

The final tornado hit near the Village of Wakeman in Huron County and traveled 9.36 miles into Lorain County. It sent limbs and branches onto area homes, downed trees and damaged roofs. It also caused the “failure of a roof” on a large barn, per NWS surveyors. It was rated an EF1 with a maximum wind speed of 100 mph.

Ohio tornado total for 2025

These three tornadoes bring Ohio’s total for the year so far to 21. That compares to 62 tornadoes by this time in 2024.

Last year set a new tornado record for the state, 74, becoming the worst year for tornadoes in Ohio since 1992 when the previous record of 62 was set. By June 2024, Ohio had already tied that record, with the record-breaker coming on June 29.

When is tornado season in Ohio?

In Ohio, tornado season peaks between April and June, according to the National Weather Service.

Kristen Cassady, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Wilmington, Ohio, said previously that it is typical for severe weather frequency to ramp up in Ohio at the beginning of March. However, March is not a peak tornado season month.

“We typically do see severe weather events including tornadoes in the month of March, even though there is a slightly higher frequency climatologically in April and May,” Cassady said. “March is still one of the primary months for tornadoes in the Ohio Valley.”

How are tornadoes confirmed?

After suspected tornadoes are spotted, crews from the National Weather Service survey possible tornado damage in person.

The pattern of damage, not how much damage was caused, determines whether it was a tornado, according to the weather service. For tornadoes, with their violently rotating columns of air, damage often has a chaotic appearance, with larger uprooted trees often crossing each other. Weather service surveyors often look at larger uproots of trees to get a true idea of where the wind was blowing from.

How are tornadoes rated?

The Enhanced Fujita Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories:

• EF0: Weak, with wind speeds of 65 to 85 mph
• EF1: Weak, 86 to 110 mph
• EF2: Strong, 111 to 135 mph
• EF3: Strong, 136 to 165 mph
• EF4: Violent, 166 to 200 mph
• EF5: Violent, greater than 200 mph

There is also an EF Unknown ranking, “a final caveat that has been added adjacent to the scale in recent years,” the Weather Channel reports. It rates a tornado sighted and documented by storm chasers or the public, but no damage can be found when the area is later surveyed.