7 things you didn't know about our area's tornado history

Credit: Lisa Powell

Credit: Lisa Powell

The 13-county Dayton region experienced 179 tornadoes from 1950 to 2015, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They ranged from massive to miniscule (as far as tornadoes go).

Here's what we learned by breaking down the data on those 179 incidents.

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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