Ohio leads the nation for tornadoes in 2024. And the season is just beginning

Tornado season officially got underway in April, and Ohio is already leading the nation.

According to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Buckeye State has had 38 tornadoes so far this year, topping No. 2 Florida with 34. Rounding out the top five are Illinois (30), Kentucky (24) and Indiana (22).

The National Weather Service confirmed five tornadoes from severe storms that swept across Ohio on Wednesday.

Tornadoes kill three in Indian Lake, Ohio, prompt state of emergency in 11 counties

Late-winter storms spawned twisters that were destructive and deadly. Mid-March tornadoes killed three in Logan County and prompted state of emergency declarations for 11 counties. Another nine tornadoes were confirmed during a storm in late February. And another three touched down in Southern Ohio and Northern Kentucky earlier this month.

Did tornadoes touch down in Ohio? How the National Weather Service confirms twisters

When is tornado season in Ohio?

In Ohio, tornado season peaks between April and June, according to the National Weather Service.

Kristen Cassady, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Wilmington, Ohio, said that it is typical for severe weather frequency to ramp up in Ohio at the beginning of March, though March is not a peak tornado season month.

“We typically do see severe weather events including tornadoes in the month of March, even though there is a slightly higher frequency climatologically in April and May,” Cassady said. “March is still one of the primary months for tornadoes in the Ohio Valley.”

Ohio sees record number of tornadoes for the first three months of 2024

Ohio had 22 tornadoes touch down through early April, according to Brandon Peloquin, warning coordination meteorologist at the NWS office in Wilmington, the most for this early in the year. The previous record was 12 tornadoes in 1986, WBNS TV-10 reports. The average number of tornadoes in a single year for Ohio is 21, Peloquin said.

What is Ohio's record for most tornadoes in a year?

The worst year for tornadoes in Ohio was 1992, when 62 twisters touched down, Peloquin said.

The strongest that year was an EF4 tornado that hit Van Wert County in Western Ohio on Feb. 18. With wind speeds of 166 to 200 mph, the tornado was on the ground for 2.8 miles and caused six injuries but no fatalities. It destroyed a house, a mobile home and two cars, and damaged nine homes, according to Tornado Talk.

National Weather Service data shows different total

The NWS tornado total of 22 obviously differs from NOAA data.

Peloquin said some databases may show a higher number because tornadoes that cross county lines may be counted multiple times. As an example, he said a single continuous tornado that moves from Auglaize County into Logan County is just one tornado but may be counted in some databases as two since it affected two counties.

Are early, severe tornadoes the new normal?

Experts say February tornadoes are not unheard of as air temperatures warm toward the end of winter, but the storms still fall outside Ohio’s normal tornado season.

Global warming could shift tornado season early in the future, leading to strong storms that draw from strong winter winds. The slow shift toward earlier springs and later falls could lead to more tornadoes or stronger storms in general.

“We can't really say that with certainty,” NWS meteorologist Logan Clark said. “Whenever you do get that increased warming earlier in the season, then you do have that potential if everything kind of aligned together to produce a system that has very strong dynamics.”

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Ohio leads nation in tornadoes for 2024. When does tornado season start?