TOLEDO, Ohio — Some residents in Defiance and Ridgeville Corners spotted funnel clouds forming in the sky Saturday evening.
WTOL 11 Meteorologist John Burchfield explained Saturday how those clouds form and why they are different than tornadoes.
"Almost always these do not touch the ground, let alone do damage," Burchfield said.
None of the funnel clouds spotted Saturday posed a threat, he said.
Burchfield said the clouds formed when a warm front in the south of our viewing area in Defiance and Findlay interacted with boundaries from earlier storms in the region that caused a little bit of rotation in the atmosphere.
Updraft + rotation = funnel, Burchfield said.
When an updraft (caused by rising warm air from a hot and humid day) meets rotation (in this cause due to a warm front and boundaries from thunderstorms earlier in the day), funnel clouds can develop.
The vast majority do not reach the ground or cause damage. The funnel threat appears to be done for the evening, Burchfield said.
Many people in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan remain on edge after the region experienced 12 tornadoes in one night on June 15 when storms spawned tornadoes from Detroit Beach in Monroe County to Huron County. Many residents in Toledo's Point Place neighborhood still are cleaning up after one of the tornadoes damaged homes and businesses there.
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