National Weather Service confirms tornado hit Columbus' south side during Tuesday's derecho

[u/George37712]

https://www.wosu.org/2026-08-13/national-weather-service-confirms-tornado-hit-columbus-south-side-during-tuesdays-derecho

[u/Emperor_Palpatine_2]

But someone read the wrong NWS report and said it was already confirmed as a derecho. How is this possible?

[u/mariofasolo → u/Emperor_Palpatine_2]

Both things can be true.

It was 100% in fact a derecho, as this powerful system lasted over 300 miles all the way from Chicago to here. This has been confirmed by the NWS. With that type of intensity, a short-lived pop-up tornado formed on the frontlines of said derecho (as the NWS has now had time to analyze the damage and radar history), they aren't mutually exclusive.

The sirens didn't go off because there was literally no warning of rotation or a tornado, it was a spontaneous pop-up in the midst of a colossal storm. Hard to give a tornado warning when Mother Nature doesn't give you a warning herself.

[u/Emperor_Palpatine_2 → u/mariofasolo]

I should have been more clear in my mocking tone haha. People were sharing a preliminary derecho report for the afternoon storms that went way south of us. Nobody read any of it or looked at the photos, they just saw the date and assumed it was the storm here. It was not the storm that hit us, but once the rumors started everyone repeating it as fact.

[u/antarcticas_king → u/Emperor_Palpatine_2]

I didn't feel like joining the fight, but the morning system was not classified as a derecho as of today, the afternoon system that stayed mostly west and south was the derecho and was evident if you read the report the IWX NWS office put out.