8 tornadoes: Tuesday storms tie for second-most area twisters in 1 day since 1950

Cleanup continued Thursday from one of the most prolific outbreak of tornadoes in the region in nearly 75 years, with 11 twisters in southwest Ohio, including eight that touched down in Butler and Warren counties.

The National Weather Service in Wilmington confirmed five tornadoes in Warren County and three in Butler County from a line of storms that passed through the area Tuesday night. That ranks tied for second for the most single-day tornadoes in the region since 1950, behind 11 tornadoes on May 27, 2019, and tied with eight tornadoes on May 24, 2017.

Melissa Bour, Warren County’s director of emergency services, said the weather service’s preliminary determination was that four EF-1 tornadoes with winds speeds between 73 and 112 mph touched down in southern Warren County along Mason-Morrow-Millgrove and Shawhan roads. Another tornado touched down outside Lebanon that is preliminarily determined to be an EF-0, which has wind speeds between 40 and 72 mph.

Credit: Jim Noelker

Credit: Jim Noelker

No injuries were reported. Multiple barns and detached garages were damaged, and one house had its roof ripped off and aother house sustained significant damage. The American Red Cross was assisting those who needed help in the affected areas.

“Lots of people were cutting (downed) trees and tarping (structures),” Bour said.

Chief Deputy Barry Riley of the Warren County Sheriff’s Office said his neighbor’s house took a direct hit less than a tenth of a mile from his home and there was lots of tree damage.

“It was incredible,” Riley said. “I’ve never been that close to a tornado before. It happened so fast. Thirty seconds of chaos, then silence, then the sirens went on.”