By: Jacob Kessler
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jacob@thevillagereporter.com
A potential severe weather event is shaping up for parts of Canada, all the way down to Texas. According to Meteorologist Megan Dodson at the National Weather Service Office in Northern Indiana, the threats facing our area in Northwest Ohio vary from damaging winds, hail and tornados.
According to Dodson, the entire severe weather event shows a “significant threat” for tornados, with our area however seeing more of a threat for damaging winds, large hail and isolated tornados. The timing for these storms currently sits between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. depending on location.
Currently, a tornado watch has been issued for parts of Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, with the watch area coming up just to the state line of Ohio. Dodson explained that this could change depending on how things evolve throughout the night and that the watch could be extended into Ohio. This watch, if it is extended, could be either a Severe Thunderstorm Watch or Tornado Watch, and will depend on conditions at time of issue.
As of this morning, the Storm Prediction Center has included Northwest Ohio into its 45% rating for damaging winds. This rating indicates a “probability of damaging thunderstorm winds or wind gusts of 50 knots or higher within 25 miles of a point. For hail, our area sits at 15% (“probability of one inch hail diameter or larger within 25 miles of a point”), and a 5% for the tornado threat (“Probability of a tornado within 25 miles of a point”).
For severe weather as a whole, the Storm Prediction Center has Northwest Ohio listed in the Enhanced area, which is a 3 out of 5 for severe weather. Stay on the lookout for possible future watches and warning.
TIMING… A timeline, recently put out by the National Weather Service in Northern Indiana, shows the a timeline for potential severe weather this evening.