The National Weather Service has survey teams out reviewing damage from Sunday night's thunderstorms. Brandon Peloquin with the Wilmington office says much of the damage was in Butler, Warren, and Clinton counties.
“And as they look at the damage, they’ll be able to put the pieces together and map it all out,” he says. “Later today [Monday], we’ll be able to share for sure whether the damage was straight-line (winds) or tornadic.”
In Butler County, the sheriff's office reports about 20 mobile homes in St. Clair Township had damage to roofs or the vinyl siding. There were no reports of injuries.
More severe weather expected
Peloquin says more thunderstorms are expected later this week. He’s the warning coordination meteorologist in Wilmington.
The biggest concerns will be for Wednesday afternoon and evening, with large hail, damaging winds, and maybe a few tornadoes.
“Something we didn’t have a whole lot of this time — but I think which is going to become more pronounced on Wednesday and beyond — is that risk for flooding,” he says. “The storms might be slow-moving. Some of the storms might be traveling over the same place repetitively. And I think the storms themselves are just going to be really efficient heavy rainfall producers.”
Peloquin says there is a potential for parts of southwest Ohio to see six to eight inches of rain over a 48- to 72-hour period, starting Wednesday.
He says it's a classic clash of the seasons: spring is trying to take hold as winter tries to hang on. He says it is starting a little later than usual this year.
How to be a weather watcher
The National Weather Service is offering training for would-be weather spotters.
Peloquin says the volunteers gather information that radar can't provide.
“Radar is great. It gives us an idea of what’s happening underneath storms, but the only way to really know what is falling where you and I live and breathe at the ground level is for those spotters to send us those reports.”
The free classes are mostly in-person, with one virtual session.
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