Rare January tornado hits Ohio’s Trumbull County

An EF-1 tornado touched down just northeast of Champion Township, Ohio on January 8, 2019. While there were no injuries or fatalities, tornadoes in this part of the country during the month of January are very rare.

According to data provided by the NWS, the tornado touched down at 10:25 EST, January 8 and moved eastward across Mosquito Creek Lake and into the western part of Cortland.

It knocked down numerous trees and wires, and caused significant damage to a cemetery outbuilding just west of Mosquito Creek Lage along with some other minor property damage.

The tornado was on the ground for 7.2 km (4.5 miles), it had maximum path width of 68 m (75 yards) and maximum wind speed between 150 and 160 km/h (95 – 100 mph).

"It is very uncommon for tornadoes to occur in this part of the country during January. Only six tornadoes have been reported in January across Ohio between 1950 and 2018," said  AccuWeather meteorologist Brian Lada.

According to WKBN, a tornado warning was up for the Greenville area of Mercer County on the same day. This was the first January tornado warning issued by the Pittsburgh National Weather Service office since 1986, at least.

Featured image credit: Bazetta Township Road Department