Weak Marysville tornado concludes record-breaking year in Ohio

MARYSVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) -- Ohio's record-breaking amount of tornadoes in 2024 got one last addition three days before the new year.

The National Weather Service confirmed a weak EF-0 tornado touched down in Marysville Sunday afternoon. Wind speeds for the small twister peaked at 70 mph, just five miles above the minimum wind speed required to even consider this a tornado.

It touched down near Payne Road and toppled a small silo. It also damaged several trees and two barns with one sustaining minor damage and a larger metal barn getting its roof uplifted and sustaining partial collapse of the walls.

This rare late-December tornado officially gives Ohio 74 for 2024, 12 more than the previous record for a year set back in 1992. It is also the latest date in the calendar Ohio has had a tornado since three occurred on Dec. 26, 1972.

The historic run of tornadoes, including 23 in May and several tornado-producing storms in central Ohio, is linked to an unusually warm winter, mild ground temperatures, virtually no ice on the Great Lakes (record low extent in the satellite era) and abnormally warm water in the Gulf of Mexico, according to Storm Team 4 Meteorologist Ben Gelber.

The record-setting 63rd tornado touched down in Huron County in early July. Other notable dates where severe storms produced multiple tornadoes in 2024 include eight on April 2, an EF-3 on March 14 that killed three people in Logan County, and a stretch of five on Feb. 28.