Miami Valley tornadoes in December rare but have happened

Published: Monday, December 03, 2018 @ 10:19 AM
Updated: Tuesday, December 04, 2018 @ 3:00 AM
By: Kirstie Zontini

It is always smart to observe your surroundings and know where to go if severe weather strikes!

— A large tornado outbreak was reported in Illinois the first weekend of December, which caused dozens of injuries.

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The tornado outbreak set a record for severe weather in the state with 26 tornadoes that weekend, according to the National Weather Service in Lincoln, Illinois.

This sets a record for the most tornadoes in December in the state as well. The old record was 21 back in 1957. This also makes for the third largest tornado outbreak in Illinois for any month. Storm surveys continue to be done by the NWS local offices, but so far there have been two EF-2 confirmed tornadoes and one EF-3.

The Miami Valley unfortunately is not in the clear when it comes to December tornadoes either. The most recent December tornadoes to be reported in the Miami Valley came on December 23, 2015.

Two EF-0 tornadoes touched down, one near Fountain City, Ind., and the other in Arcanum. According to the National Weather Service in Wilmington, the tornado in Arcanum was on the ground for about 50 yards. It lofted a portion of a metal roof onto a nearby car.

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Tornadoes in December in Ohio are not common but can happen. Looking back to 2008, according to the Storm Prediction Center records, there have been three December tornadoes.