1992 was the area's biggest year for tornadoes, with 13
Warren County has been hit the hardest
Warren County has experienced 22 tornadoes since 1950, most recently in 2012, when two struck on May 1 of that year.
County | Tornadoes |
Warren | 22 |
Mercer | 18 |
Clark | 18 |
Miami | 18 |
Greene | 17 |
Darke | 17 |
Butler | 16 |
Auglaize | 13 |
Montgomery | 12 |
Preble | 11 |
Shelby | 6 |
Logan | 6 |
Champaign | 5 |
May and June are the biggest months for tornadoes
Damage caused by a tornado that touched down in Cedarville on May 14, 2014.
A tornado dropped in Butler County on Dec. 26, 1973, and the area has seen two January twisters since 1950 -- on Jan. 13, 1976 in Clark County and Jan. 29, 2008 in Preble County.
But May leads the pack, with 43 confirmed tornadoes in the 1950-2015 time period.
Month | Tornadoes |
January | 2 |
February | 4 |
March | 6 |
April | 29 |
May | 43 |
June | 39 |
July | 27 |
August | 11 |
September | 3 |
October | 8 |
November | 6 |
December | 1 |
April 3 and July 12 have been the most active dates for tornadoes
There were 14 dates on the calendar on which at least four tornadoes struck in the 65-year span, led by April 3 and July 12, with six each.
Each of those days saw a significant tornado outbreak. On April 3, 1974, the day of the infamous Xenia tornado, Clark and Warren counties also were struck. On July 12, 1992, there were confirmed touchdowns in Auglaize, Mercer and Warren counties that caused a combined $3.5 million damages.
Date | Tornadoes |
April 3 | 6 |
July 12 | 6 |
May 10 | 5 |
June 18 | 5 |
7 tornadoes have caused at least $15 million in property damage
Neighbors, friends and relatives on June Drive in Xenia are surrounded by the devastation of the tornado that ripped through their neighborhood on Sept. 20, 2000. Dayton Daily News file photo by Bill Reinke
The Xenia tornado of April 3, 1974, caused an estimated $250 million in property damage, making it one of seven in the region since 1950 that has racked up at least $15 million in damages. The most recent came on Sept. 20, 2000, when another Xenia tornado caused $15 million in damages.
Date | County | Property damage |
April 3, 1974 | Greene | $250M |
June 2, 1990 | Butler | $25M |
June 2, 1990 | Butler | $25M |
June 2, 1990 | Warren | $25M |
Nov. 22, 1992 | Preble | $25M |
Nov. 22, 1992 | Darke | $25M |
Sept. 20, 2000 | Greene | $15M |
Area tornadoes have most commonly caused less than $30,000 in damage
Nearly half of the tornadoes that struck the area from 1950-2015 caused less than $30,000 in property damage, with 39 of them registering less than $10,000 in damage.
Damage range | Tornadoes |
$20K-$30K | 44 |
$0-$10K | 39 |
$250K-$260K | 34 |
$2.50M-$2.51M | 19 |
$10K-$20K | 12 |
$25M+ | 5 |
$50K-$60K | 4 |
Only two of the most powerful tornadoes have hit since 1950
The area has seen just two of the most powerful tornadoes measures -- F5 on the scale used to measure intensity. Both happened on April 3, 1974. One was the Xenia tornado that caused 36 deaths and more than 1,000 injuries. The other hit Clark County and luckily didn't match the Xenia twister's carnage.
Here's an explainer of the EF scale.
Intensity | Tornadoes |
F5 | 2 |
F4 | 8 |
F3 | 13 |
EF3 | 1 |
F2 | 25 |
EF2 | 2 |
EF1 | 6 |
F1 | 57 |
EF0 | 26 |
F0 | 37 |
A look at all tornadoes in the region, 1950-2015
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