PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH
610 PM EDT THU OCT 14 1999

...DAMAGE IN CIRCLEVILLE CONFIRMED AS TORNADIC...
...BRIEF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN CONFIRMED IN FAYETTE COUNTY...

A STORM DAMAGE TEAM FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS REPORTED
THAT THE DAMAGE DONE IN CIRCLEVILLE WAS CAUSED BY AN F3 TORNADO. AN
F3 TORNADO HAS WIND SPEEDS OF 158 TO 206 MPH.

THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS ON THE TORNADO AND ITS ASSOCIATED
DAMAGE. THE PATH OF THE TORNADO WAS THREE AND A HALF MILES LONG...
STARTING A MILE AND A HALF WEST OF CIRCLEVILLE AND ENDING IN THE
EXTREME NORTHEAST SECTION OF THE TOWN. THE PATH WIDTH WAS GENERALLY
ONE SIXTEENTH OF A MILE AND LOCALLY REACHED ONE QUARTER OF A MILE IN
THE NORTHEAST SECTION OF CIRCLEVILLE.

THE FIRST DAMAGE IN PICKAWAY COUNTY OCCURRED ONE AND A HALF MILES
WEST OF CIRCLEVILLE, WHERE A SMALL SHED WAS PULLED OFF THE
FOUNDATION. ACROSS HIGHWAY 22 THERE WAS DAMAGE TO A TALL
CONSTRUCTION BUILDING. IT WAS CONCRETE BLOCK WITH AN ALUMINUM ROOF.
THE WEST END OF THE BUILDING WAS DESTROYED AND SPREAD EAST NORTHEAST
ONE QUARTER OF A MILE ACROSS A FIELD.

THE TORNADO LIFTED...WITH THE NEXT TOUCHDOWN OCCURRING IN THE NORTH
CENTRAL SECTION OF CIRCLEVILLE. IN THIS AREA, A BARBER SHOP WAS
DESTROYED ALONG WITH A MASONRY BUILDING. THE MALL HAD WINDOWS BLOWN
OUT, A BIG HOLE IN THE ROOF WHERE FURNITURE WAS PULLED THROUGH AND
HAS STILL NOT BEEN LOCATED. A LARGE ELECTRICAL SIGN WEIGHING SEVERAL
HUNDRED POUNDS WAS PULLED FROM ITS FOUNDATION AND BLOWN TWENTY FEET
TO THE SOUTH. ALSO, A SEMI-TRACTOR TRAILER WAS PARKED FACING WEST.
THE TRUCK WEIGHT WAS 35,000 TO 38,000 POUNDS. THIS VEHICLE WAS BLOWN
ON IT'S SIDE AND DRAGGED TEN FEET, UNTIL IT FACED THE WEST SOUTHWEST.

NEXT, A HOUSING AREA IN THE NORTHEAST PART OF THE TOWN HAD SEVERAL
HOMES DESTROYED. TREES WERE TORN FROM THEIR TRUNKS AND CARPORTS TORN
OFF HOUSES. THREE OF THE HOMES HAD ROOFS LIFTED AND EITHER DROPPED
BACK DOWN OR TWISTED. ONE GARAGE WAS LIFTED AND MOVED ABOUT TEN
FEET. ANOTHER COLLAPSED ON A CAR. SEVERAL TREES WERE TWISTED AND
BROKEN OFF AT THE TRUNK. THERE WERE NUMEROUS TREES WITH LIMBS
TWISTED IN ALL DIRECTIONS. SIMILAR DAMAGE WAS FOUND EAST NORTHEAST
OF THE HOUSING AREA.

SEVERAL PEOPLE INTERVIEWED BY THE TEAM HAD MANY DESCRIPTIONS OF THE
NOISE ACCOMPANYING THE STORMS. THEY RANGED FROM A HIGH PITCHED SOUND
FOR A FEW SECONDS TO, "IT SOUNDED LIKE I WAS BETWEEN TWO FREIGHT
TRAINS." ONE INDIVIDUAL DESCRIBED SEEING TWO FUNNEL CLOUDS COLLIDING
TOGETHER JUST TO THE WEST OF THE HOUSING AREA AND DROPPING INTO THE
HOUSING AREA.

IN EASTERN FAYETTE COUNTY ANOTHER TORNADO HAD TWO BRIEF TOUCH DOWNS. ONE
WAS IN THE TOWN OF BLOOMINGBURG, WHERE A MOBILE HOME WAS BLOWN OVER
AND SEVERAL UTILITY POLES WERE DOWNED. THE NEXT TOUCH DOWN OCCURRED
IN THE TOWN OF PANCOASTBURG, 7 MILES TO THE EAST-NORTHEAST OF
BLOOMINGBURG. HERE THE DAMAGE WAS LIGHT AS TWO PONTOON BOATS WERE
FLIPPED AND DESTROYED. THIS TORNADO WAS CLASSIFIED AS AN F0
TORNADO.

HAYDU/GALLAGHER

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