Cleveland Weather: Tornado Confirmed

CLEVELAND — The National Weather Service says a weak tornado touched down in western Ohio near the Ohio-Indiana state line.

The tornado in Van Wert County ripped the roof off a house, flattened a barn and flipped over a tractor-trailer and a camper near the village of Convoy.

Rick McCoy, the county's emergency management director, says no one was injured in the storm Tuesday. He says the tornado was on the ground for about 2.5 miles.

Authorities in three other counties in northwest Ohio are assessing the damage from high winds and are trying to determine whether tornadoes were to blame.

At least three houses in the village of Cridersville (KRY'-durz-vil) just south of Lima (LY'-muh) sustained heavy damage. Authorities say no one was injured.

According to reports, the dynamics of the storm system which is moving west to east across the Southeast, includes an increase of southerly winds throughout the day and should continue to be strong during the evening hours.

South to southwest sustained winds are expected to be 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 40 mph.

Officials warned drivers of higher-profile vehicles such as SUVs, panel trucks or 18-wheelers. Gusty and high winds can cause such vehicles to topple.

Monday’s storm caused sporadic and widespread damage to trees and several homes in Bradley County after a Tornado Warning was issued shortly after 5:30 a.m.

The National Weather Service area forecast discussion indicates unusually high and possibly record temperatures associated and settling ahead of the weather system.

Watches and advisories have been issued for Tennessee counties including extreme West Tennessee and the Memphis area which was experiencing the event at 10:30 a.m. today, according to Matthew Cason, administrative officer for Bradley County Emergency Management Agency.

“The system is now moving through Memphis and will march eastward into the afternoon, moving into Bradley County and Cleveland somewhere around 6 to 8 p.m., based on its current speed,” said Cason.

“This could of course, advance or slow down and we will be keeping a particularly close eye on that; however, even if the brunt of the system does not hit us this evening, there is a very real potential for smaller shower and thunderstorm cells that could form out ahead of this squall line and impact us any time during the afternoon hours.”

“Those would likely form over the northeastern portion of Alabama and northwest Georgia.”

Cason said all information at this point was preliminary but the possibility of isolated tornadoes and damaging winds remains.

CBEMA is monitoring the system and will consult area government including the school system, according to Cason.

Meanwhile, Volunteer Energy Cooperative and Cleveland Utilities crews are being prepared for a possible weather event.

Robert McCarty of VEC said today crews postponed maintenance projects in order to concentrate on possible needs later.

“We have all hands on deck,” said McCarty.

Dennis Daniel of CU said, “We are always prepared for storm emergencies. It’s the nature of our business.”

source: http://www.daytondailynews.com and http://www.clevelandbanner.com