WILMINGTON — Winds gusted up to 70 miles per hour while well over 3 inches of rain fell during the storms and rain that began Friday night into Saturday morning in Clinton County.
Meteorologist James Gibson of the National Weather Service in Wilmington told the News Journal they recorded up to 3.53 inches of rain with other parts of the county recording around 2.9 inches and 2.66 inches at the Wilmington Air Park.
A 60 mph wind gust was recorded at 8:48 p.m. at the Air Park, while minutes later the NWS recorded a wind gust of 70 mph, said Gibson.
The storm entered Clinton County at about 8:33 p.m. and hit Blanchester hardest beginning at around 9:10 p.m.
There were many reports of cloud rotations and officials were examining the hardest-hit areas, but radar indicated it was straight line winds that caused the damage, said Gibson.
The News Journal received several dozen photos of storm damage posted to our Facebook page.
Sue Firman commented that, on Reeder Road, there was “4 inches of rain in the gauge, lot of limbs down, trees stripped of bark and no electric for over 14 hours. That’s just the back yard. … Worst storm I’ve seen in this area. Thank God for generators.”
John Noland’s post summed it all up well: “Wild.”
