Tornados touch down in Miami and Shelby counties; no damage reported

A funnel cloud that reportedly touched down briefly on the west side of Piqua Saturday evening did not cause any damage and was likely not much more powerful than a “dust devil” whirlwind, officials said.

At 7:42 p.m. Saturday, the National Weather Service received a report that a funnel cloud touched down in Piqua. There were multiple reports of funnel clouds forming in sky, but rarely do they touch down, said Meteorologist Andrew Snyder.

Instability in the upper levels of the atmosphere produced the cold air funnels, he said.

The National Weather Service confirmed a couple of very brief narrow tornado touchdowns Saturday evening in northern Miami County and southern Shelby County.

The tornadoes did not produce any damage, according to both the Miami County Sheriff’s office and the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Piqua Post.

There were reports of funnel clouds seen in Clark and Champaign counties. Sirens also went off in Champaign County, but no warning was issued there.

A warning in Shelby and Miami counties expired just before 9 p.m. The type of funnel cloud people saw is typically short-lived and very rarely touches down, according to the weather service.

“These are not tear the house off the foundation tornadoes,” said WHIO-TV Channel 7 Meteorologist Jamie Simpson.

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