There were over 600 reports of severe weather on Thursday, March 14th, 2024 in an outbreak of severe thunderstorms that spanned 1,000 miles from Texas to Ohio. The vast majority (450+) of those reports were hail, 80+ of which were 2" or larger hailstones. Unfortunately, tornadoes also caused significant damage and reportedly took lives in the Ohio Valley.
Early in the event, storms erupted and dropped big hail across eastern Missouri and southwest Illinois. Parts of the St. Louis metro and Interstate 55 between St. Louis and Springfield, IL saw some of the biggest hail which approached baseball to softball size:
As we approached dusk, tornadoes began touching down and causing damage across Indiana and Ohio. This was an area that was experiencing widespread rain and thunderstorms early in the day, but rain and clouds cleared out in the afternoon allowing for rapid air mass recovery as a warm front lifted into the area. The result was an environment that rapidly became favorable for long-track supercells and significant tornadoes. The 0z balloon sounding from Wilmington, Ohio revealed a volatile environment with steep lapse rates and plenty of low-level turning for efficient tornado production.
Winchester, Indiana tornado:
Great capture here by Blake N:
Damage appears to be extensive in the Winchester, Indiana area. Daylight will reveal more.
Probably the most intense video to emerge of the event was captured near Wapakoneta/Fryburg, Ohio. The roar of the tornado becomes very audible about 40 seconds into the video:
Simon Brewer, long-time storm chaser and one of the best-of-the-best has shared his full video from the tornado outbreak in Indiana and Ohio already:
Ohio tornado displayed some impressive multiple vortex structure early in its life:
Tyler Barry also captured some great scenes near Celina, Ohio:
This is the killer tornado in Indian Lake, Ohio captured by Nick Dewhirst:
Tyler Berry captured similar scenes:
Absolutely stunning video of a tornado over water (check out the wind flow patterns!) in Madison, Indiana:
Unfortunately, daylight will surely reveal the true extent of the damage in these communities and that may mean mounting casualty numbers as well.
The weather pattern across North America will offer a bit of a reprieve from stormy weather as cooler, quieter conditions settle into the Central U.S. for the third week of March - but Thursday's outbreak is a jolting alarm that has signaled loud and clear that the spring severe weather season is upon us.
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