The damaging microburst that slammed Lorain and Amherst June 10 brought winds of 85 mph.
That quick-hitting thunderstorm took down dozens of trees, knocked out power and damaged several buildings.
By comparison, the massive and catastrophic tornado that leveled a large swath of downtown Lorain on June 24, 1924, brought destructive winds off of Lake Erie from a high-end EF 4 tornado.
According to the National Weather Service, high-end EF-4 tornadoes can reach wind speeds up to 200 mph.
Lifesaving piano, family lost
Lois Love of Lorain said her family was impacted by the tornado.
“My mom (Margaret Richards), who was just 13 years old at the time, survived by hiding under a grand piano as the 1924 Lorain tornado struck without warning, but her entire Richards’ family died that day, including her mom, dad, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, and her two little cousins when their house collapsed as the tornado crossed Fifth Street,” Love said.
Some of the destruction from the tornado that struck the city of Lorain in 1924. (Courtesy of Lorain Historical Society)
Love, who was born 27 years after the Lorain tornado, researched what happened during that epic tornado.
“I found out that when my mom ran outside to get help, everything around her was destroyed, and people were disoriented as they sought help,” she said. “The trauma of that tornado was something my mom never wanted to talk about.”
Large tornadoes, hit and miss
National Weather Service Meteorologist Rick Garukas said Lake Erie certainly reduces the number of tornadoes that affect Lorain.
“The greatest wind shear needed for tornadoes, often occurs in April and May, but that’s when Lake Erie water temperatures are still only in the 40s and 50s, so any organized, rotating thunderstorms which can lead to tornadoes but move over the cold lake struggle to keep their updrafts before collapsing,” Garukas said. “That’s why the bulk of the spring severe weather occurs inland from the lakeshore counties.
“When Lake Erie is warmer in mid to late summer, the overall weather pattern does not support as many tornadoes,” he said. “But, if the right conditions are present, then the storms have an easier time staying organized over the warm lake later in the summer.
“But, the daily lake breeze often pushes storms farther inland, so the number of thunderstorms capable of producing tornadoes at the lakeshore each summer are less than they are inland.”
The 1924 tornado was a case of very strong wind shear ahead of an unusually strong cold front for late June, according to Garukas.
“Lake Erie would’ve been over 70 degrees by then, and therefore, wind shear supported organized rotating supercells,” he said. “One of those supercells developed near Sandusky, moved east over the lake, and then back on shore at Lorain where the water was warm enough to not weaken the storm, which meant the lake water had zero effect on dissipating the tornado in Sandusky and then in Lorain.”
Five minutes of history
It was a sunny and warm late June afternoon when the massive tornado stormed ashore at Lakeview Beach 102 years ago plowing into downtown Lorain and surrounding neighborhoods, killing 78 people, injuring more than 1,000 and damaging and destroying more than 700 homes and buildings.
Just 15 minutes earlier, another large tornado already had caused tragedy, killing eight people in Sandusky.
The Lorain tornado is the deadliest in Ohio history.
According to historical research by Remarkable Ohio, that tornado was the deadliest concentration of death and destruction by a single tornado in less than five minutes in a small section of a city.
Although rare, large-scale tornadoes always are a possibility along the Lake Erie shore if precise weather conditions come together, officials said.
The most recent tornado that made landfall with a direct hit off of Lake Erie struck Rocky River on the afternoon of Aug. 6, 2024.
It was a very isolated tornado causing damage mainly to two streets. That tornado was rated an EF 1 capable of winds between 86 to 110 mph.
But, Lake Erie can produce damaging thunderstorms that form fast, meteorologists said.
A deadly thunderstorm called a derecho, the rarest and most violent type of thunderstorm, swiftly moved ashore slamming into Lakewood and then Cleveland on July 4, 1969, as thousands of people gathered for fireworks at Lakewood Park.
The 104 mph winds brought down 100 large trees at the park and triggered large waves to crash over the beach.
Eighteen people were killed.
Derechos are not tornadoes, but the fast moving one over water in 1969 made it extra dangerous, according to forecasters.
The NWS reports that thunderstorms, common in northern Ohio, can be as deadly as tornadoes, and account for an average of 150 deaths around the country each year as the storms trigger destructive winds, flash floods and lightning.
“When most people think about high winds associated with a thunderstorm, they think they come from tornadoes that are spawned, however, most years there are far more damage reports from thunderstorm straight line winds than from tornadoes,” according to the NWS.
Healing power of piano
Not only did seeking shelter under a grand piano save Margaret Richards’ life, but playing the piano throughout her life became a comforting and emotional healing instrument, Love said.
“My mom also played piano at Sunday school which she taught, and I believe there was some sort of quiet connection in her life regarding pianos and the music she played,” the daughter added.
Love said her mom and her mom’s family drove from Columbus to her aunt and uncle’s house in Lorain on June 24, 1924, and arrived around 4 p.m., just an hour before the tornado hit as they were preparing for dinner.
“The trauma of that day meant my mom didn’t want to talk about it her whole life,” Love said.
Margaret Richards became a school teacher in Kentucky before moving to Illinois.
“I feel that because of what my mom went through, she always wanted to help people, and not only help them in the moment, but make them a helpful plan going forward,” Love said.
She said it wasn’t until shortly before her mom died at 82 years old that she acknowledged that day in 1924, but it was with just six words.
“My mom was introducing me to a friend of hers when my mom said about her friend … she also had a tragic life,” Love said, “That’s the only time my mom referenced that heartbreaking day that changed her life forever, and I can not imagine her fear.
“I believe the catastrophe she dealt with as a young girl, gave her endurance in life to deal with anything that came her way, and that made her a shining example of quiet courage to me.”