How long the Dayton area tornadoes were on the ground

The National Weather Service has been surveying tornado damage for three days and new information is out regarding the Ohio tornadoes.

We already knew that several long track EF3 tornadoes struck but now we know how long each was on the ground.

Let's start with the longest track of the day.

Brookville-Trotwood-Dayton-Riverside Tornado

• Distance on ground: 19 miles

Just think about this: a destructive tornado was on the ground for 30 minutes and covered 19 miles in that time. To compare it to a local distance many would recognize, that's like driving from Walton, Kentucky to downtown Cincinnati. Or, like driving from West Chester all the way to the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati.

But it's not just the distance, it's how wide the tornado was. As you can see in the NWS report below, the tornado at it maximum width was 0.60 miles wide. That comparable to 10 football fields wide.

For a detailed description of the tornado track, check out this link from the NWS in Wilmington.

West Milton Tornado

• Distance on the ground: 10.8 miles

This EF2 tornado was on the ground from 10:25 to 10:44 p.m. for 10.8 miles, traveling across parts of Darke and Miami counties. This looks like one of the widest tornadoes of the night at 0.75 miles wide. What's interesting to know about tornadoes is that wider doesn't equal stronger. The EF3 tornado that hit Trotwood was more narrow than this EF2.

Eastern Montgomery County to Central Greene County Tornado

• Distance on ground: 10 miles

This EF3 tornado was on the ground from 11:12 to 11:32 p.m. Monday. It started in Riverside and continued to US 68 north of Xenia in Xenia Township. This is the tornado that hit Beavercreek. It was 0.7 miles wide at its max width, which is like 12 football fields wide.

For a detailed description of the neighborhoods impacted and overall damage, check out this LINK.

NE Montgomery County Tornado

• Distance on the ground: 7.6 miles

This is the tornado that eventually crossed I-75 in northeastern Montgomery County and was rated EF2. This lead to ODOT bringing out snow plows to clear debris from the interstate. It was on the ground from 11:34 to 11:45 p.m. The tornado was a quarter mile wide which is more like four football fields wide.

Phillipsburg Tornado
Distance on the ground: 3 miles

The tornado that hit Phillipsburg, OH was an EF0 and was on the ground for 3 miles. It was only 50 yards (half a football field) wide.