A Clinton County Household Check-In Before Ohio Severe Weather Awareness Week (15–21 March 2026)

If you haven’t talked about your household emergency plan since the last snowstorm, now’s the time. Not because winter is “over.” Ohio can still throw a curveball in March. But because the hazards are about to change. Winter problems are usually slow. You get a forecast. You get time. You can stock up, stay home, and ride it out. Spring severe weather is different. Tornadoes and thunderstorms can form fast. Warnings can come with little notice. And when it’s time to act, you may only have minutes.

So before we roll into Ohio Severe Weather Awareness Week (15–21 March 2026), take a few minutes and have the household conversation: “What changes in our plan when we move from winter to spring?”

Then update your household emergency plan here:https://www.cc-ema.org/plan

The Time to Prepare Is Right Now (Not During the First Warning)

Severe weather season doesn’t start on a calendar date. It ramps up. And in Ohio, it ramps up quickly. The weeks between now and Severe Weather Awareness Week are one of the best windows you’ll get all year to:

• update your plan

• refresh your kits

• test your alert methods

• make sure everyone knows what to do

Because once the first warning hits, most people are already behind.

Clinton County Tornado Facts That Matter (And Should Change How You Prepare)

Here are a few tornado facts based on tornado history inside Clinton County:

Tornadoes in Clinton County are most likely in the evening.

About 55% of tornadoes happen between 6:00 PM and midnight.

• Evening (18:00–23:59 | 6 pm to midnight): 37 tornadoes (55%)

• Overnight (00:00–05:59): 25 tornadoes (37%)

  • A large share happen overnight, that means a lot of tornadoes happen while people are asleep. Hence the reason it is important to have multiple ways of getting the alert!

• Morning (06:00–11:59): 3 tornadoes (4%)

• Afternoon (12:00–17:59): 2 tornadoes (3%)

Morning and afternoon tornadoes are uncommon here.

• Only a small number happen during the morning or afternoon hours.

The western half of the county has the highest occurrence.

• NW quadrant: 22 tornadoes (33%)

• SW quadrant: 18 tornadoes (27%)

• NE quadrant: 14 tornadoes (21%)

• SE quadrant: 13 tornadoes (19%)

Overall count (1961–2024)

• Total tornadoes: 73

• Total injuries: 1,328

• Total fatalities: 39 (03 April 1974 -- F5 with 36 Fatalities, 1,150 injured, and a path length of 31.3 miles stretching from Butler-Warren-Clinton Counties).

May is historically the peak month.

What does this mean for your household?

It means the most likely tornado threat in Clinton County is:

• after dinner

• late at night

• when people are relaxing

• when kids are asleep

• when phones are charging across the room

• when people aren’t watching the weather

That’s not meant to scare anyone. It’s meant to make one thing clear: Your plan has to work at 2:00 AM, not just at 2:00 PM.

Step 1: Tornado Prep — Know Where You’re Going and How Fast You Can Get There

A tornado plan is not complicated. But it needs to be decided ahead of time. Your household should answer this question clearly: “Where are we going if a tornado warning is issued?”

The safest places are:

• a basement

• a storm shelter

• the lowest level of your home

• an interior room with no windows (like a bathroom, hallway, or closet)

If you live in a mobile home, you need a separate plan. Mobile homes are not safe during tornado warnings. (Finding a Tornado Shelter) And don’t wait until the warning to figure it out.

Take 10 minutes and do a practice run:

• Can everyone get there quickly?

• Does anyone need help (kids, seniors, pets)?

• Is the area cluttered or blocked?

• Is there a flashlight there?

• Is there a way to protect your head and neck?

More tornado preparedness info is here: https://www.cc-ema.org/tornado

Step 2: Thunderstorm Prep — Don’t Underestimate “Just a Storm”

A lot of people think tornadoes are the only serious spring hazard. In reality, straight-line winds and lightning cause plenty of injuries, property damage, and power outages in Ohio. Strong thunderstorms can bring:

• damaging winds

• downed trees

• power outages 1 2 3 4 5 6

• flash flooding

• hail

• lightning injuries

• road hazards and crashes

A few simple actions make a big difference:

• secure outdoor items (chairs, grills, trampolines, trash cans)

• treat downed powerlines as energized

• avoid flooded roadways

• stay indoors during lightning

• unplug sensitive electronics if storms are severe

• have a plan for power outages

Thunderstorm preparedness info is here: https://www.cc-ema.org/thunderstorm

Step 3: Inventory Your Household Kit AND Your Vehicle Kit

This is the part most households skip. People build a kit once… and then don’t touch it again for years. Spring severe weather season is the perfect time to do a quick kit inventory. You don’t need to buy a bunch of new gear. You just need to check what you already have.

Household kit check (10 minutes)

Look for:

• dead batteries

• missing flashlights

• expired food

• expired medications

• missing chargers

• empty power banks

• broken weather radios

• missing first aid items

Vehicle kit check (also 10 minutes)

Your vehicle kit matters because storms don’t always hit when you’re at home. Your vehicle should have basics like:

• flashlight

• phone charging cable

• small first aid kit

• bottled water

• seasonal items (blanket, rain poncho)

• a way to stay warm or dry if you’re stranded

A full kit guide is here: https://www.cc-ema.org/kit

Step 4: Alerts — Know When to Act (And Don’t Rely on Sirens)

This is one of the most important parts of spring preparedness. You cannot act on a tornado warning if you don’t receive it. And Clinton County tornado history shows something that should get everyone’s attention:

• A large share of tornadoes happen overnight.

• If your household is asleep and no one receives the warning, your plan doesn’t matter.

The best practice: More than one way to get alerts!

Every household should have at least two ways to receive tornado and severe

thunderstorm warnings.

Examples include:

• Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) on your phone

• a weather app with emergency notifications turned on

• NOAA Weather Radio

• county alerts and notifications

Don’t rely on outdoor warning sirens

Outdoor warning sirens 👉are not designed to wake you up inside your house ^👈 They are meant to alert people who are outdoors in public areas. Sirens can also be:

• hard to hear indoors

• hard to hear during heavy rain

• hard to hear when windows are closed

• unreliable during power issues

• misunderstood (some people think they mean “tornado,” when they may be used for other hazards too)

You should treat sirens as a backup, not your primary warning system. Create a P.A.C.E. plan for all your emergency actions. Alert information is here: https://www.cc-ema.org/alerts

Step 5: Don’t Forget the Most Important Family Members (Pets)

If you’ve ever tried to grab a scared dog during a storm, you already know this...pets

don’t always cooperate. If your plan is “we’ll figure it out,” that usually means:

• pets hide

• people waste time searching

• stress goes through the roof

• someone gets scratched or bitten

• precious minutes are lost

Your severe weather plan needs to include pets. Before severe weather season:

• decide where pets will go during a warning

• keep leashes ready

• stage pet carriers where you can grab them fast

• keep pet food and water stocked

• keep medications and basic vet records accessible

Pet preparedness info is here: https://www.cc-ema.org/pets

Your Simple Challenge Before Severe Weather Awareness Week (15–21 March 2026)

If you do nothing else before awareness week, do these five things:

1. Update your household emergency plan https://www.cc-ema.org/plan

2. Pick / reconfirm your tornado safe place and practice getting there https://www.cc-ema.org/tornado

3. Inventory & update your household and vehicle kits https://www.cc-ema.org/kit

4. Set up more than one way to get alerts https://www.cc-ema.org/alerts

5. Secure outdoor items and prepare for thunderstorm impacts https://www.cc-ema.org/thunderstorm

And don’t forget pets: https://www.cc-ema.org/pets

Final Thought...

Clinton County has a long tornado history. And the most important takeaway is simple: Tornadoes here are most likely in the evening and overnight. So if your plan only works when everyone is awake and paying attention, it’s time to update it. Do the work now, while it’s calm. Then when the first warning day hits, you’ll already be ready. And if you know someone who “never worries about tornadoes,” share this with them.