What the record says
On 20 August 1962, a tornado touched down near Parma, Ohio. The Storm Prediction Center records its path as 0.5 miles long and up to 500 yards wide, rated F2 on the Fujita (F) scale. It killed 4 people and injured 20.
- F2Fujita rating
- 4deaths
- 20injuries
- 0.5 mipath length
- 500 ydmaximum width
It has its own page because it killed three or more people.
This page gives the official record's figures. Numbers of deaths and injuries are sometimes revised after a survey, and they cannot convey what the day was like for the people who lived through it.
Counties it crossed
The start point was at 41.40, -81.80. The record has no end point for this tornado, so it is drawn as a dot.
How to read this path
The Storm Prediction Center records most tornadoes as a straight line from the point where they touched down to the point where they lifted. The real path usually curved and was not the same width all the way along. The width given is the widest part. Older records are less precise, and the record starts in 1950.
Source: the NOAA Storm Prediction Center database, public domain.
Other notable tornadoes in Ohio
- Beavercreek, Ohio tornado3 April 1974, F5, 36 deaths, 1,150 injuries, 31.3 miles long
- Warren, Ohio tornado31 May 1985, F5, 18 deaths, 310 injuries, 47 miles long
- Strongsville, Ohio tornado11 April 1965, F4, 18 deaths, 200 injuries, 22 miles long
- Toledo, Ohio tornado11 April 1965, F4, 18 deaths, 236 injuries, 5.6 miles long
- Cleveland, Ohio tornado8 June 1953, F4, 17 deaths, 379 injuries, 118 miles long
- Andover, Ohio tornado31 May 1985, F4, 16 deaths, 125 injuries, 56.2 miles long
Other notable tornadoes of 1962
- Pace, Florida tornado31 March 1962, F3, 17 deaths, 100 injuries, 6.9 miles long
- Waterbury, Connecticut tornado24 May 1962, F3, 1 death, 50 injuries, 11.6 miles long
- Anson, Texas tornado25 May 1962, F3, 1 death, 1 injury, 4.1 miles long
- Lynch, Nebraska tornado29 May 1962, F4, 24.2 miles long
- Circleville, Kansas tornado6 August 1962, F4, 3 injuries, 11 miles long
All tornadoes of 1962 · Ohio tornado history · All notable tornadoes