SPC Stats
Path length: 9.7 miles
Width: 300 yards
Fatalities: 0
Injuries: 30
Rating: F3
County: Allen
The F3 that crossed through parts of Allen County, OH on July 19, 1950 was the strongest of the 6 twisters that occurred that day. Per the SPC plot, the tornado tracked from Lima to Beaverdam.
In an article in the Akron Beacon Journal on July 20, 1950, 19-year-old Tom Maurer was quoted, “The funnel was a greyish mass, swirling slowly at first, but gaining momentum as it swept through the city. We saw limbs from trees and parts of houses shooting up in the air.”
Hundreds of homes were damaged, 3 were destroyed. A drive-in theater, which had only been built 2 weeks before the tornado hit, was leveled. The Lennox Furnacing Company was unroofed and a wall collapsed. The roof was also ripped from the Western Condensing Company. Two steel-fabricated walls and 2 other buildings were damaged. There were 30 injuries and no fatalities.
Damage details from the Climatological Data National Summary, the Lima News Archives and the Akron Beacon Journal newspaper archives.
Tornado Path
Click Map To Enlarge
SPC coordinates: Start: 40.72 / -84.08 End: 40.83 / -83.97
Newspaper articles document that the tornado moved through NW Lima. Thomas Grazulis states this as well in his book Significant Tornadoes. If that is correct, then the official SPC coordinates are incorrect.
Note: Exact tornado path may not be straight and/or continuous.
Damage Photos taken by James B. Bachmann, Akron, OH
Sent to us by his daughter, Sue Bachmann Fry, Tucson, AZ
Newspaper Clippings
Discrepancies:
We gathered information for this event from the SPC & NCDC Databases, the July 1950 Climatological Data National Summary (CDNS) and Thomas Grazulis in Significant Tornadoes and found the following differences:
Path Length:
- SPC/NCDC have a 9.7 mile path length.
- CDNS has a 10 mile path.
- Grazulis has a 3 mile path.
Max Width:
- Grazulis has a width of 200 yards.
- Remaining sources list the width at 300 yards.
Time Stamp:
- SPC/NCDC have a beginning time of 1515 CST.
- CDNS and Grazulis have the time at 1650 EST.
Sources:
July 1950 Climatological Data National Summary
Grazulis, Thomas P. (1993). Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VT: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. Page 956.
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