- Rating: EF-1
- Location: 3 miles N of Ona, WV
- County: Cabell
- Start Location: 9:30 p.m. (38.4780, -82.2242)
- End Location: (38.4773, -82.2150)
- Estimated Peak Wind: 100 mph
- Path Length: 0.5 miles
- Path Width Maximum: 400 yards
- Fatalities: 0
- Injuries: 0
Details from NWS storm survey: On June 4th, 2014 at approximately 09:30 pm EDT an EF1 tornado with an estimated max speed of 100 mph touched down approximately 3 miles north of Ona in the north-central portion of Cabell County, West Virginia.
The following day on June 5th, 2014, a survey team from the NWS in Charleston, WV traveled to Ona. An employee from the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources had called our office to inform us that a portion of the forest was leveled near the intersection of Rush Hollow Road and Howells Mill Road.
Upon arriving, the survey team spoke with a homeowner that had significant structural damage on the front portion of their home due to a large fallen tree. Further inspection of the woods behind the home revealed extensive tree damage - both snapped and uprooted trees of up to 30 inches in diameter in a counterclockwise convergent pattern from the top of the ridge behind the home extending a half mile east down to Howells Mill Road with a maximum width of 400 yards.
After surveying the damage and analyzing radar data, the survey team has determined that the damage was the result of an EF1 tornado with winds up to 100 mph.
Photo of Damage
Image of tornado damage north of Ona, WV (Photo provided by National Weather Service)
Doppler Radar (Base Reflectivity Loop)
Base Velocity Loop
Correlation Coefficient Loop
Tornado on Radar by Time
9:27 PM: The thunderstorm that would end up spawning our EF-1 tornado north of Ona is organizing and is about to spawn the tornado. Initial broad rotation is beginning to tighten up on the Base Velocity imagery above, which is coordinated with a slight drop in CC values in the Correlation Coefficient product.
9:36 PM: Radar data suggests that the tornado is still ongoing, though weakening. It is nearing the end of its life cycle. However, Correlation Coefficient data indicates debris being lofted at the intersection of McComas Branch Road and Left Fork Cooper Ridge Road. A slightly broader area of rotation is shown on Base Velocity, indicating that the tornado is in the process of cycling itself out.
9:41 PM: The supercell thunderstorm's circulation is just west of Glenwood Road, north of Milton. However, the striking Correlation Coefficient imagery from the previous radar scans are gone. In addition, Base Velocity imagery shows our area of rotation much broader - this storm is still rotating but is no longer producing a tornado.
Storm Prediction Center Convective Outlooks
- Convective Outlooks: By 20Z, four hours before the tornadic supercell took place near Ona, the Storm Prediction Center was on to the setup! Though CAPE (energy availability levels for storms) was fairly modest, strong low level storm relative helicity values were present with a lot of wind shear. As a result of this and with moist air in place, it would not take a lot of instability for storms to fire up.
Environment Parameters Near Time of Tornado
- Image 1 (0-1 km SRH) - Very strong low-level helicity values indicated intense wind shear in the low-levels, meaning that a ton of wind direction change with height at the low levels would make it easy for any kind of storms with vertical development to rotate.
- Image 2 (Surface CAPE) - Despite not a ton of energy for storms to utilize, the intense amount of sheer presented above overcame the general low amount of energy present.
- Image 3 (Supercell Composite Parameter) - As a result of the abundant sheer present, the Supercell Composite parameter indicated 8-12 along west-central West Virginia. These values are exceedingly rare in the Mountain State - these values might be reached one or two times in a year.
- Image 4 (Significant Tornado Parameter) - Once again, the exception low-level sheer available for thunderstorms in this environment resulted in values over 2 for the STP - these are values rarely seen in the Mountain State.
- Surface Map - An area of low pressure very close by with a stalled front to the north (essentially what was a warm front) and a cold front to our west put western West Virginia in the 'warm' or 'unstable' sector of this system. Combine this with the proximity of the low being close by - wind sheer is usually present.
- Satellite Imagery - Infrared and water vapor satellite imagery easily discerns both the cold front in the water vapor imagery and the cold tops of thunderstorms present across west-central West Virginia. These images were taken literally right as the tornado was wrapping up.
- Tornado Watch - A Tornado Watch was issued for the area at 2:55 PM that afternoon - this watch was set to expire though about a half hour before the tornado-producing thunderstorm moved through.
- MCD 0818 - MCD 0818 highlighted the potential for tornadoes during the evening hours - this discussion was laid out through 9:30 PM, right when the tornado began in Cabell County.
- Storm Reports: Storm reports from the day indicate other wind-related and hail reports relayed in the Mountain State. This included 2" diameter hail occurring at approximately 5:43 PM southeast of Madison in Boone County.
