The Tornado outbreak of November 9–11, 2002 was a large, widespread and rare outbreak of storms that occurred during the late afternoon hours on November 9 through the early morning hours on Veterans Day, November 11, 2002. The event is commonly referred to as the Veterans Day weekend tornado outbreak. In all, 88 tornadoes hit 17 states, including 12 tornadoes that killed 36 people in five states. This ranks as the third largest outbreak ever recorded in November.
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.
Meteorlogical 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 the town was struck by a tornado of F4 magnitude was the 1920 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak. The November 10, 2002 tornado, which was also rated a F4, destroyed a theater around 3:30 PM. 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 a tornado had 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 long lead times on all the tornadoes, but there was a slight dispute because the northern tornadoes occurred in severe thunderstorm watch boxes. This outbreak was exceptional because of its extremely long duration, large spatial effects, and large number and intensity of tornadoes. It is among one the most productive fall tornado events in recorded history. The 2002 tornado season was the slowest tornado season the U.S. has seen since 1988. The year was on track to have only one-quarter of the national average of tornadoes per year, but due to the sudden outbreaks of tornadoes between November 5 and December 18, 2002, it became 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. 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 four fatalities. There were also reported tornadoes in Union County and Seneca County in Ohio. Both of these tornadoes were rated F3, 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.
