Parts of Northwest Ohio under tornado warning decree

5/7/2010

The Toledo area is under a tornado watch until 11 p.m. Friday according to the National Weather service.

The weather service at 7:32 p.m. issued a tornado warning for southern Ottawa County, all of Sandusky County, northern Seneca County, and southern Wood County.

There was an unconfirmed report of a rotating cloud touching down in southern Ottawa County, the sheriff's department said. The Hancock County sheriff's department said it received a report of a possible swirling cloud sighting near Arcadia.

Showers and thunderstorms will be moving into northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan from Indiana, Brian Mitchell, a meteorologist with the Cleveland office of the weather service, said. Residents should look for their arrival before 8:30 p.m.

Some thunderstorms may produce damaging winds and large hail. Gusts could reach 30 mph early in the evening and 45 mph after midnight.

Authorities in counties to the west and south of Toledo reported hail, downed limbs, and wires but no sightings of funnel clouds as of 7:30 p.m. Friday.

In Waterville Township, the storm knocked down electrical wires at a house near Hertzfeld Road and U.S. 24, starting a fire.

The occupants safely evacuated the house, but firefighters had to brave heavy rain in responding to the alarm.

Concern about bad weather has caused the cancellation of the First Friday celebration in downtown Perrysburg and the Otesgo Invitational track meeting in Tontogany that was to feature eight teams.

Because of expected high winds and inclement weather, Nature's Nursery has canceled the second annual Walk for Wildlife scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at the Blue Creek Conservation Area in Whitehouse.

Saturday's forecast calls for a 40 percent chance of showers and windy conditions.

A tornado watch defines an area where tornadoes and other kinds of severe weather are possible in the next several hours. It does not mean tornadoes are imminent -- just that you need to be alert, and to be prepared to go to safe shelter if tornadoes do happen or a warning is issued. This is the time to turn on local TV or radio, turn on and set the alarm switch on your weather radio, make sure you have ready access to safe shelter, and make your friends and family aware of the potential for tornadoes in the area.