Kent State students received messages from KSU Alert of a tornado warning at 6:06 p.m. in effect until 6:45 p.m. on June 18.
The university’s alert system issued a second warning at 9:30 p.m. lasting for fifteen minutes.
Both warnings urged students to seek shelter as the Midwest region experienced severe weather, including tornadoes.
No tornadoes have been confirmed as touching down in Kent and Portage County, according to the National Weather Service and Portage County Emergency Management Agency.
Tornado warnings are common during this part of the summer season, as May and early June are considered peak times for tornado season.
“It’s very usual to have tornado warnings for around this time of year, especially because we are heading into the warmer weather and the humidity and everything that allows that storm to build up,” said Brett Lee, deputy of Portage EMA.
Lee said the first few storms that occurred in Ravenna, Kent and Rootstown areas saw two inches of rain during the first thirty minutes of the storm.
Karen Clark, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said the winds that Portage County experienced during the first warning are known as straight-line winds, which are winds that come out of a thunderstorm and blow in one direction but cover a larger area than ones from a tornado.
“You have one storm that tracks southeast of Kent and another storm that tracks northeast of Kent later on,” Clark said.
She reported that the Cuyahoga Falls, Stow and Tallmadge areas saw tree damage in the wake of the storms.
Hudson reported some tree damage as well during the second storm warning, according to Clark.
“We had pretty widespread wind damage across Northeast Ohio all the way from Finley and Toledo to Cleveland and points east,” Clark said. “So, it was a pretty active night in terms of wind damage and storm reports.”
First Energy reported less than one percent of Portage County experienced power outages.
Statewide, the energy company estimates restoring power to 107,000 customers and is working to restore power for 21,000 remaining customers as of June 19.
Clark said the National Weather Service team continues to gather data and information to confirm if any tornadoes touched down in the state.
With tornado season continuing, Lee recommends that Portage County residents be “weather aware,” and follow Portage Prepares on social media for alerts from the National Weather Service.
Nikki Gasiewski is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].
