Why is county ‘Tornado Capital of Ohio’?

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

In recent weeks it’s been well documented that Van Wert County is considered the unofficial “Tornado Capital of Ohio.”

A pair of EF-1 tornadoes that touched down in the county on April 2 were the 40th and 41st recorded tornadoes since 1950. Thirty-six of those tornadoes have occurred since 1990. One of them came down just outside of Van Wert and the other near Glenmore. While there was property damage at both locations, there were no injuries or fatalities.

Van Wert County EMA Director Rick McCoy believes the reason for the high number of twisters may be twofold. 

“I’m very aggressive at watching the storms and going out and finding stuff,” McCoy said, “where a lot of counties maybe don’t do that or they find wind damage and think it’s wind so they don’t report it, but it could have been a tornado.
“I’ve talked to some meteorologists about this (high number) and they think it has to do with Lake Michigan,” he added. “If you think about our winter months you always see the snow bands coming off the lake and the wind currents coming off the lake.

“Some meteorologists believe during the severe weather season that is still coming down through here, and so it’s maybe colliding with your weather system and causing more spin or more interaction in the atmosphere, fronts coming together,” McCoy also noted. “It’s speculation on their part, but it’s something that maybe they’d like to do more research on.”

McCoy also credited many active weather spotters throughout Van Wert County, including volunteer fire departments, who watch the skies when severe weather approaches, a notion seconded by Dustin J. Norman, Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the National Weather Service, Northern Indiana, which serves Van Wert County.

“I would say a part of it has to do with having very engaged emergency managers/spotters in Van Wert who are really good at finding damage paths,” Norman stated.

Approximately 80 people attended an official National Weather Service Skywarn spotters training class held in Van Wert in late March.

As far as issuing a tornado warning, which means a tornado has been sighted or is indicated by weather radar, only the National Weather Service is authorized to do so.

“That doesn’t mean we can’t bypass them and put out alerts,” McCoy said. “Let’s say they haven’t put out a warning yet and one of my spotters sees a tornado on the ground, I’m doing two things. I’m alerting the public that a tornado has been spotted and at the same time we’re relaying that to the National Weather Service. My alert to that point is coming out before the National Weather Service’s warning. We can do that locally.”

McCoy also said while he can’t issue an official warning, state law allows him to sound the county’s tornado sirens when needed, even in the absence of a National Weather Service warning.

Wednesday: information on Van Wert County’s tornado sirens.