1924 — June 28, OH Tornadoes, Portage County/3, Sandusky/9, esp. Lorain/>64, OH– >89

–>89 Grazulis. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. 1993, p. 494.
–85 Erie, Lorain, Cuyahoga Counties, 4:35 pm F4. Grazulis 1993, pp. 494 and 790.
— 8 Sandusky, Erie County. Grazulis 1993, p. 790.
— 8 Lorain Municipal Bath House. Grazulis 1993, p. 790.
–>64 Lorain city. Grazulis 1993, p. 790.
–>16 State Theatre collapsed.
— 3 Avon, east of Lorain. Grazulis 1993, p. 790.
— 1 East of Lorain. Grazulis 1993, p. 790.
–01 Sandusky, Erie Counties, 4:45 pm F3.
–03 Portage County, 5 pm F3.
— 85 Brooks and Doswell 2000.
— 85 Ludlum. The American Weather Book. 1982, p. 131.
— 85 Schmidlin and Schmidlin. Thunder in the Heartland. 1996, p. 254.
–72 Lorain.
— 8 Sandusky.
— 3 Mantua area, north of; farmers.
— 85 Storm Prediction Center, NOAA. The 25 Deadliest U.S. Tornadoes. 2008.
— 82 Ohio Historical Society. “The Lorain Tornado, 1924.” Remarkable Ohio.

Narrative Information

Ludlum: “Massive tornado hit Sandusky, Ohio, then swept across Lake Erie to smash Lorain; 85 killed; $12 million damage.” (Ludlum. The American Weather Book. 1982, p. 131.)

Ohio Adjutant General’s Department: “On Saturday, June 28, 1924, a deadly F4 tornado struck the Lake Erie shoreline communities of Sandusky and Lorain, Ohio. The storm killed eight people in Sandusky before moving east over Lake Erie and striking Lorain, where 72 were killed. The Ohio National Guard was dispatched to the scene within nine hours to help with rescue work, caring for the injured, guarding property and protecting against vandalism. Elements of the 145th and 148th Infantry, 112th Engineers, 135th Collecting Company and 37th Tank Company, under the command of Brig. Gen. John R. McQuigg, focused their efforts in Lorain where nearly 125 city blocks were destroyed or damaged. The 1924 Lorain-Sandusky Tornado remains the deadliest single tornado in Ohio history.” (Ohio Adjutant General’s Department, Sgt. 1st class Joshua Mann, Ohio Army National Guard Historian. 1924 Lorain-Sandusky Tornado. No date.)

Ohio Historical Society: “Just after 5:00 P.M on June 28, 1924, a tornado swept off Lake Erie directly into downtown Lorain. Within five minutes, seventy-eight people lost their lives. Fifteen died in the old State Theatre…as an audience of two hundred watched a Saturday afternoon musical performance. More than one thousand suffered injuries. The tornado did extensive damage to the business district, destroyed 500 homes, and damaged a thousand more. The city’s largest industry, the American Shipbuilding yards, was severely damaged. The tornado, which had hit Sandusky before striking Lorain, continued along the shoreline and struck Sheffield and Avon minutes later. Contemporary accounts listed eighty-two deaths resulting from the deadliest tornado in Ohio’s history.” (Ohio Historical Society. “The Lorain Tornado, 1924.” Remarkable Ohio)

Sources

Associated Press. “Lorain Engaged in Her Sad Task of Burying Victims.” The Morning Republican, Findlay, OH 7-2-1924, p. 1. Accessed 3-10-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/findlay-morning-republican-jul-02-1924-p-1/

Brooks, Harold E. and Charles A Doswell III (NOAA/National Severe Storms Laboratory). “Normalized Damage from Major Tornadoes in the United States: 1890-1999.” Revised manuscript submitted as Note to Weather and Forecasting, Vol. 16, 9 p., Sep 2000. Accessed 11-25-2017 at: http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/users/brooks/public_html/damage/tdam1.html

Grazulis, Thomas P. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VE: Environmental Films, 1993, 1,326 pages.

Ludlum, David M. The American Weather Book. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1982.

Ohio Adjutant General’s Department, Sgt. 1st class Joshua Mann, Ohio Army National Guard Historian. 1924 Lorain-Sandusky Tornado. No date. Accessed 3-10-2020 at: https://www.ong.ohio.gov/stories/2019/jun/20190628-hh-tornado.html

Ohio Historical Society. “The Lorain Tornado, 1924.” Remarkable Ohio: Marking Ohio’s History. 11/09/2008 at: http://www.ohiochannel.org/your_state/remarkable_ohio/marker_details.cfm?marker_id=489

Schmidlin, Thomas W. and Jeanne Appelhans Schmidlin. Thunder in the Heartland: A Chronicle of Outstanding Weather Events in Ohio. Kent State University Press, 1996, 362 pages. Partially digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=QANPLARGXFMC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Storm Prediction Center. The 25 Deadliest U.S. Tornadoes. Norman, OK: SPC, National Weather Service. NOAA. Accessed 10-12-2008 at: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/killers.html