Rare January thunderstorms roll through area: ‘It scared me to death’

The high temperature for Thursday reached 61 degrees in Dayton and 60 in Cincinnati and Columbus, but the storms brought much colder air with temperatures expected to plunge to an overnight low around freezing.

The storms and strong wind knocked down trees, branches and led to reports of siding and shingles blown off homes.

Linda Turner was sitting in her house, watching TV, and saw a tree rocking back and forth when part of it fell and hit the roof of the house she rents in Miamisburg.

“It scared me to death,” Turner said.

She did not believe the inside of the house was damaged, but Turner was among the more than 14,000 utility customers across the region to lose power.

A tree fell across the southbound lanes of U.S. 68 in Springfield, causing multiple crashes that shutdown the highway for more than two hours. A pine tree was reported across Far Hills Avenue near Southmoor Circle in Kettering.

The Dayton International Airport had the highest wind gust recorded, outside of thunderstorms, for the region, with a gust of 64 mph at 4:23 p.m., according to the NWS.

The weather service warned of the potential for severe weather.

“Folks … a day to stay weather aware! An atypical Jan. risk of severe weather today — in fact — this is the first Jan “Enhanced Risk” of severe weather issued this far north” since the enhanced category was added in 2015, the NWS reported.