Storm Chaser’s Guide to the Ohio Valley

Map of the Ohio Valley, where red indicates unfavorable road networks for storm chasing. (Gaps and densely populated areas) Green represents densely forested areas. County names are also identified.

Ohio Valley

A few cities include: Cincinnati, Evansville and Louisville.

Local tornado season: Peak is spread out between April and June.

Terrain: Mostly hilly and forested.

Road network: Manageable in some areas.

Radar coverage: Good in most areas.

The Ohio Valley may not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking of tornado alley. Nonetheless, the Ohio Valley has experienced many tornadoes, including several significant tornado events. While tornado season peaks in the spring in the Ohio Valley, tornadoes are not uncommon in the summer and fall.

Unlike the Plains, large hail is not particularly common here, but can occur with the most organized supercells. Damaging winds are a more common hazard, along with storm motions that sometimes exceed 60 MPH. This poses another challenge for storm chasers in the area.

Terrain

Land on both sides of the Ohio River is relatively hilly and forested. In some areas, the terrain is a bit more flat, but with widespread forests, observing storms can be quite tricky. The tree density is greatest in southern Indiana and southern Illinois. Farther south, thick forests dominate much of central and northern Kentucky as well. Southwestern Ohio tends to be the least forested area in this chase zone.

Road network

Road networks in the Ohio Valley can range from manageable to very challenging. Parts of southern Indiana and southwestern Ohio have road networks that are somewhat gridded. However, due to population density and terrain obstacles, do not expect chasing to always be easy here. If there is a positive side to the roads, it’s that many of them are paved.

Roadways on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River rarely like to take a straight path. This creates tricky navigation when it comes to chasing storms. The road network is particularly rough in far southern Illinois, especially through Shawnee National Forest.  Keep in mind that bridges over the Ohio River are limited, so this can be challenging when trying to chase a storm from one side of the river to the other.

Several freeways and major roadways can be found throughout the Ohio Valley. It may be best to stay on one of these main highways if storm chasing, unless you happen to be in an area that has a manageable road network.

Radar coverage

Radar Coverage roc.noaa.gov

At least radar coverage is consistently good through the Ohio Valley area. The lower Ohio Valley has several radar sites in close proximity. KPAH, KVWX, KHPX and KLVX do an excellent job of covering southern Illinois, southern Indiana and much of Kentucky.

KILN covers all of southwestern Ohio and there is only a small portion of northern Kentucky that falls between KLVX and KILN. Even here, the area of limited radar coverage is quite narrow and usually adjacent radars will offer some useful data for storm chasers.

In summary, the Ohio Valley offers plenty of challenges to storm chasers. Good radar coverage and a few areas with reasonable road networks may be helpful for storm chasers, but a tendency for terrain issues and inconsistencies in the road network make much of the region hard to storm chase.

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