2029 New Albany tornado

Tornado summary
This tornado initially touched down west of Harrisburg, rapidly strengthening and widening as it started to produce EF2 damage on the northwest side of Grove City. Just east of Urbancrest, the tornado started producing EF3 damage, including the tornado's first deaths on the south side of Columbus. Just before crossing I-71 south of Greenlawn Avenue, a toxic waste spill triggered by the EF3 tornado contaminates a small area of south Columbus near McCoy Park and the Lou Berliner Sports Park.

Strengthening to an EF4 just west of Schiller Park, the tornado began leveling houses at the southern end of German Village. The neighborhood of Livingston Park was especially hard-hit, with 20 fatalities occurring in that neighborhood alone. Nationwide Children's Hospital took mostly EF3 damage. In spite of the destruction, it could have been worse; the tornado missed downtown Columbus by less than a mile.

After causing destruction on the south side of Columbus, the city's east side then took damage, with EF4 damage continuing into Franklin Park. Further fatalities occurred here just as the tornado slams into the north side of Bexley, continuing to level homes along its path.

At this point, EF4 damage continues as the tornado strikes the western end of John Glenn Columbus International Airport, where the tornado produced the first evidence of ground scouring at the western end of the airport's runways. However, the terminal itself did not receive any tornadic damage.

After passing over the airport, the tornado then made a direct hit into the center of Gahanna, continuing to produce EF4 damage and destroying the neighborhoods between downtown Gahanna and the New Albany city line. At Creekway Court in the northernmost area of Gahanna, the tornado produced EF5 damage for the first time.

Crossing into New Albany, the tornado struck the neighborhoods around the New Albany Country Club at EF5 intensity. Large homes were reduced to bare foundations and open basements.

After hitting the New Albany Country Club area, the tornado reached a record width of 2.75 miles wide. This damage swath extended from just north of State Route 161 at the New Albany Road interchange all the way southeast to Kitzmiller Road near New Albany Farms and the Wexner Estate.

Just as the tornado achieved this record width, a mobile radar positioned in western Licking County detected tornadic wind speeds as high as 350 mph just above ground level over the center of New Albany. These extreme winds went on to destroy the old center of New Albany, the Mount Carmel Hospital, and the Abercrombie & Fitch Home Office. Practically all buildings (including several multi-story structures like the Mount Carmel Hospital and the A&F Home Office) in the path of this "supertornado" were leveled completely to the ground. The extreme winds reduced slightly at Evans Road in the Clearcreek neighborhood, although EF5 damage continued to a point just east of the Licking County line. 52 deaths occur in the New Albany city limits, especially at the A&F Home Office (22 deaths) and the Mount Carmel Hospital (9 deaths, including 5 patients).

As the tornado crossed into Licking County, it starts weakening slightly, although EF4 damage continued as far east as Clover Valley and Green Chapel Roads southwest of Johnstown. EF3 damage continued to the southwest side of Johnstown proper, where damage occurred to the Redwood neighborhood along with several buildings along Mink Street. EF2 damage then occurred at Johnstown-Monroe High School. Finally, at the Hillcrest Golf Course just northeast of Johnstown, the tornado begins to rope out, and it finally lifts NW of the intersection of U.S. Route 62 and Dutch Lane.

The New Albany tornado was both the strongest and widest tornado on record, and resulted in 151 fatalities along its entire track, making it the deadliest tornado of the day and the second-deadliest of the outbreak sequence.

Note that this scenario is partially based on that seen here: https://hypotheticaltornadoes.fandom.com/wiki/Tornado_outbreak_of_April_23,_2020