Type Tornado outbreak Tornadoes confirmed 83 confirmed Start date November 9, 2002 | Duration November 9–11, 2002 Damage $160+ million Number of casualties 36 | |
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Max rating Duration of tornado outbreak ~36 hours, majority of the tornadoes occurred on November 10, 2002 Similar December 2000 Tuscaloo, Enigma tornado outbreak, May 1995 tornado outbreak, May 2003 tornado outbreak, 2008 Super Tuesday t | ||
The 2002 Veterans Day Weekend tornado outbreak was a large, widespread and rare outbreak of storms that occurred from the late afternoon hours on November 9 through the early morning hours on Veterans Day, November 11, 2002. Eighty-three tornadoes hit 17 states. Twelve tornadoes killed 36 people in five states. This ranks as the second biggest outbreak ever recorded in November.
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Autumn tornado season
The lower Ohio Valley and the South have two tornado seasons, one in the spring and a less intense and more sporadic one in autumn. The states in these regions are truly unique as they are the only places in the entire world with two distinct tornado seasons. During the autumn season, the upper atmospheric dynamics are once again more often conducive for major tornado outbreaks. Upper atmospheric temperatures cool down as the calendar shifts towards winter and jet stream winds increase, as does intensity of low pressure systems. Some of the most destructive severe weather events in USA history have occurred during the secondary season. Unfortunately, many people are not well aware of this secondary season as they are the spring season which can lead to a higher chance of people being caught off guard by severe weather. Many local national weather service offices in the south conduct storm spotter training sessions in the fall and even observe a fall severe weather awareness day in effort to draw more attention to this secondary peak.
Outbreak synopsis
The outbreak began in Arkansas in the late afternoon hours on Saturday, November 9, 2002. However, the brunt of the outbreak was on November 10. It began around 2 P.M. in Indiana and became widespread from Mississippi up through Ohio in the afternoon. Seventeen died in Tennessee, twelve in Alabama, five in Ohio, and one each in Pennsylvania and Mississippi.
The most notable and photogenic tornado of the outbreak was the one that occurred at Van Wert, Ohio. Van Wert has been hit before. The last time they were severely hit was during the 1920 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak. That tornado was an F4. During this tornado (which was also an F4), a theater was destroyed at around 3:30 P.M. The walls and roof were damaged or destroyed by the tornado and three cars were thrown into the front seats which minutes earlier had been completely filled with people. This was the farthest north and east such an intense tornado has occurred that late in the year. Notably, no one was killed at the packed theater because the manager received warning via Van Wert County Emergency Director Rick McCoy and evacuated everyone to the back theater. The lead time of this tornado was approximately 28 minutes. A tornado warning went out for Van Wert County at 3:02 P.M. This tornado outbreak was particularly noted because of the massive lead times on all the tornadoes, but there was a slight dispute because the northern tornadoes (such as Van Wert) occurred in severe thunderstorm watch boxes.
This outbreak was exceptional because of its extremely long duration, extremely large area affected, and very large number of tornadoes and intense tornadoes. It is among the most productive Fall tornado events in recorded history. The 2002 tornado season in perspective was extremely slow, the slowest the U.S. has seen since 1988. The year was due to have only one-quarter of the national average this year, but due to the sudden burst of tornado activity between November 5 and December 18, 2002 had one of the most active fall seasons in U.S. history.
Summary of the outbreak in Ohio
On November 10, 2002 tornadoes were reported in several counties of Ohio including Putnam County and Van Wert County. All schools in Van Wert County were cancelled on November 11 (including Van Wert City Schools, Crestview, and Lincolnview schools). Van Wert city schools were also closed on the twelfth and thirteenth. The schools were delayed on November 14 and 15th. The tornado reported in Van Wert County in 2002 was a violent F4 tornado with 4 fatalities. There were also reported tornadoes in Union County and Seneca County in Ohio. Both of these tornadoes were a severe F3s, and there was a fatality near Republic, Ohio. Overall, five people were killed because of these violent storms in Van Wert, Putnam, and Senaca Counties.
Governor Bob Taft declared a state of emergency for Van Wert County and Ottawa County because of the violent tornadoes that rocked northwest Ohio. The National Weather Service made sure the warnings were issued well in advance on November 10, 2002.