Ohio leads the nation for tornadoes in 2024: How many twisters has the Buckeye State seen so far?
April is the start of tornado season in Ohio, but the state has already seen more than its fair share of twisters so far this year even before the peak.
Ohio’s tornado season officially kicked off in April, but the run-up to it has been active to say the least. The Buckeye state saw 26 twisters reported between February and March according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The state is now at the head of the pack nationally with 38 just halfway through April and heading into the peak of tornado season which runs through June. While the majority of twisters are seen during April, May and June, it isn’t unheard of for the powerful storms to show up throughout the year.
Ohio is no stranger to tornadoes
The Buckeye state is considered to be part of ‘Tornado Alley’ which extends from the Rocky Mountains across the Plains and into the Ohio Valley. So having to keep an eye on the sky for funnel clouds is a part of life.
More than 1,400 tornados have touched down in Ohio since 1950, according to data compiled by the Cincinnati Enquirer from NOAA. Of those, there have been 38 “violent” twisters that were rated at least F4 on the Fujita Scale, which are ‘devastating tornadoes’ with wind speeds in excess of 207 mph.
However, over the past 70-plus years, the total number works out to an average of just 19 per year. That pales in comparison to other Tornado Alley states like Texas which has an average of 155 twisters per year, the most on average in the nation.
The most tornadoes that Ohio has seen in a single year, was in 1992 when 63 twisters touched down. On the contrary, there were no tornados reported in 1988 in the Buckeye State.
While nearly 60 percent of twisters are reported during tornado season in the state, Ohioans will have to wait and see how this year will turn out. Two of the days that have seen the most tornadoes on record so far since 1950 came after the tornado season was over. There were 29 reported touchdowns on 12 July 1992 and 19 on 10 November 2002 according to The Columbus Dispatch.