NWS Confirms Three Tornadoes In Lake And Jasper Counties

NWS Chicago has confirmed three tornadoes affected their Indiana area of coverage.  One of the tornadoes crossed into Lake county from Kankakee county Illinois with a separate tornado occurring south and east of Lowell.  Finally, a tornado occurred in northern Jasper county near DeMotte.  All of these tornadoes have been rated EF1.

Survey information for the tornado that started in Illinois and crossed into Indiana, followed by the tornado south/east of Lowell and the tornado in the DeMotte area:

TORNADO NORTHEAST OF GRANT PARK ILLINOIS  
  
RATING:                 EF-1  
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND:    105-110 MPH  
PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/:  3.4 MILES  
PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/:   200 YARDS  
FATALITIES:             NONE  
INJURIES:               NONE  
  
START DATE:             JUNE 30 2014  
START TIME:             1032 PM CDT  
START LOCATION:         4.3 MILES NORTHEAST OF GRANT PARK  
START LAT/LON:          41.2651/-87.5685  
  
END DATE:               JUNE 30 2014  
END TIME:               1037 PM CDT  
END LOCATION:           4.8 MILES WEST-SOUTHWEST OF LOWELL IN    
END LAT/LON:            41.2841/-87.5080  
  
SURVEY SUMMARY:   
  
THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR A CHURCH ON COUNTY RD 13...SNAPPING  
HARDWOOD AND SOFTWOOD TREES. A LARGE LIMB SMASHED THROUGH THE  
STAINED GLASS WINDOWS OF THE CHURCH AND THE FORCE OF THIS CAUSED  
DAMAGE TO THE WINDOW FRAME INSIDE THE BUILDING. IN  
ADDITION...LARGE TREE BRANCH IMPALED ITSELF INTO THE CHURCH. A  
DOOR INSIDE THE CHURCH WAS BLOWN OPEN AND RIPPED OFF. THERE WAS  
SOME MINOR STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY DAMAGE NOTED INSIDE THE CHURCH.  
  
THE TORNADO THEN CONTINUED TO N 16750E ROAD...WHERE THE MOST  
SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE ON A FARMSTEAD INCLUDED LARGE HARDWOODS  
SNAPPED...WINDOWS IN THE RESIDENCE BLOWN IN AND THE COMPLETE  
DESTRUCTION OF THREE STORY TALL BARN WITH DIMENSIONS OF 88X60.  
FURTHERMORE..A LARGE BRANCH WAS IMPALED INTO THE FRONT OF THE  
RESIDENCE. THE FEMALE HOMEOWNER REPORTED THE COMMON FREIGHT TRAIN  
SOUND OF A TORNADO AND EXPERIENCED EAR POPPING AS THE TORNADO  
PASSED.   
  
AS THE TORNADO THEN MOVED ALONG E 10500N ROAD...IT CAUSED  
SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO AN UNDER CONSTRUCTION BUT SEALED SINGLE  
FAMILY RESIDENCE. A SECTION OF THE ROOF WAS REMOVED...WHICH CAUSED  
A CRACK IN THE FRAME OF THE HOUSE AND A LARGE WALL SECTION  
COLLAPSED OUTWARD. CONSISTENT SNAPPING OR UPROOTING OF TREES WAS  
NOTED IN A CONVERGENT MANNER AS THE TORNADO PATH CONTINUED INTO  
LAKE COUNTY BEFORE ENDING WEST-SOUTHWEST OF LOWELL. ALL OF THE  
MOST INTENSE DAMAGE WITH THIS TORNADO WAS CONSISTENT WITH THAT OF   
A HIGHER END EF-1 TORNADO.  

TORNADO SOUTHEAST OF LOWELL INDIANA  
  
RATING:                 EF-1  
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND:    105-110 MPH   
PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/:  2.4 MILES  
PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/:   500 YARDS   
FATALITIES: NONE   
INJURIES: NONE  
  
START DATE:             JUNE 30 2014  
START TIME:             1046 PM CDT  
START LOCATION:         4.2 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LOWELL IN  
START LAT/LON:          41.2683/-87.3452  
  
END DATE:               JUNE 30 2014  
END TIME:               1048 PM CDT  
END LOCATION:           6.1 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF LOWELL IN  
END LAT/LON:            41.2818/-87.3024  
  
SURVEY SUMMARY:   
  
THE TORNADO LIKELY BEGAN IN A FIELD WEST OF HARRISON STREET AND  
TRACKED EAST-NORTHEAST TO NEAR INTERSTATE 65. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT  
DAMAGE NOTED INCLUDED TWO SNAPPED WOODEN POWER POLES AND  
SUBSTANTIALLY DAMAGED GRAIN BINS ON A FARM EAST OF HARRISON STREET  
THAT COULD NOT BE ACCESSED DUE TO DOWNED POWER LINES. AT A  
FARMSTEAD NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF HARRISON STREET AND W 191ST  
AVENUE...A WOODEN BARN WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED...ALONG WITH  
SEVERAL LARGE HARDWOODS AND SOFTWOODS SNAPPED AT THE TRUNK. THE  
DAMAGE WAS CONSISTENT WITH A HIGHER END EF-1 TORNADO.  
  
SOUTH OF THE TORNADO PATH...THERE WAS A WIDE SWATH OF SIGNIFICANT  
STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE. THIS INCLUDED THE SNAPPING OF SEVEN OR  
EIGHT ADDITIONAL WOODEN POWER POLES ALONG HARRISON  
STREET...SNAPPED TREES AND AN AT LEAST A ONE MILE WIDE SWATH OF  
COMPLETELY FLATTENED CORN CROP. THE STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE WAS  
SOME OF THE MOST NOTEWORTHY ON THE SURVEY AND WAS CONSISTENT WITH  
WIND SPEEDS OF 100-110 MPH.  

TORNADO IN AND NEAR DE MOTTE INDIANA  
  
RATING:                 EF-1  
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND:    100-105 MPH  
PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/:  8.0 MILES  
PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/:   200 YARDS  
FATALITIES:             NONE  
INJURIES:               NONE  
  
START DATE:             JUNE 30 2014  
START TIME:             1049 PM CDT  
START LOCATION:         3.3 MILES WEST OF DE MOTTE IN  
START LAT/LON:          41.1909/-87.2613  
  
END DATE:               JUNE 30 2014  
END TIME:               1056 PM CDT  
END LOCATION:           4.9 MILES NORTHEAST OF DE MOTTE IN  
END LAT/LON:            41.2240/-87.1138  
  
SURVEY SUMMARY:   
  
A 100-200 YARD SWATH OF CONSISTENT TREE DAMAGE...WITH NUMEROUS  
SNAPPED TREES...BEGAN EAST-SOUTHEAST OF DE MOTTE BETWEEN N CR 1150  
W AND N CR 1100 W JUST NORTH OF W CR 1200 N. THE DAMAGE CONTINUED  
EAST-NORTHEAST JUST TO THE EAST AND THEN THROUGH THE CENTER OF DE  
MOTTE NORTH OF 9TH STREET. JUST EAST OF DE MOTTE ALONG ORCHID  
STREET...A BARN WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED AND DOUBLE WIDE  
MANUFACTURED HOME EXPERIENCED SOME STRUCTURAL AND/OR ROOF DAMAGE.  
FURTHER NORTHEAST ALONG W CR 1450 N NEAR THE END OF THE DAMAGE  
PATH...THERE WERE SNAPPED TREES...WOOD POWER POLES LEANING AND  
DAMAGE TO TWO FARMSTEADS. ON ONE...THE DOORS COLLAPSED IN A POLE  
BARN. IN ANOTHER POLE BARN...THE WALLS COLLAPSED AFTER THE ROOF  
WAS BLOWN OFF. THE DAMAGE IN THIS TORNADO PATH WAS CONSISTENT WITH  
MAXIMUM SPEEDS OF 100-105 MPH.  
  
IT CANNOT BE CONCLUSIVELY RULED OUT THAT MORE THAN ONE TORNADO  
TOUCHED DOWN ALONG THE 8 MILE LONG DAMAGE PATH.  

March 28, 1920 - The Original Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak

Today marks the anniversary of a significant Palm Sunday tornado outbreak, but perhaps not the one you may think.  On March 28, 1920, at least 7 tornadoes touched down in Indiana as part of a major tornado outbreak.

The first tornado touched down west of Leroy in Lake county around 3 PM before passing into Porter county and ending near Beatrice.  One person was killed and another was injured.

Around 3:15 PM, a second tornado touched down south of Mishawaka and passed northwest of Elkhart before heading into Michigan.  Fortunately, no fatalities occurred in this storm but several people were injured.

The third tornado touched down at 4:30 PM in Steuben county near the town of Orland, unroofing businesses and homes there.  The tornado moved NNE into Michigan.

A new tornado touched down at 5:15 PM in Wells county near Uniondale.  Many farms and other buildings were leveled along the path across Wells and Allen counties.  The tornado then crossed into Ohio.  In all, 23 people were killed with 13 of the deaths occurring in Indiana.

Around 6 PM, another tornado touched down NNW of Portland in Jay county.  Extreme damage (possibly F5) occurred near the towns of Geneva and Ceylon before the tornado passed into Ohio.  17 people died with 14 of them occurring in Indiana.

A sixth tornado touched down at 7:30 PM south of Union City in Randolph county before moving into Ohio.  5 people were killed but it appears that all of the deaths occurred in Ohio.

The final tornado reached the ground in Wayne county at 8:00 PM.  This tornado originated near Fountain City and moved through Wayne and Randolph counties before passing into Ohio.  No deaths occurred in Indiana.


Source:

Thomas P. Grazulis, Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991 (Environmental Films, 1993).

August 4, 2008 Tornadoes

Three years ago on this date, a powerful bow echo/derecho plowed across northern Indiana.  In addition to widespread damaging straight line winds, there were 2 tornadoes in the northwest part of the state.  The first tornado, an EF2, began in the Lake county town of Griffith and passed into Gary before dissipating.  The second tornado, a brief EF0, occurred in Benton county near the town of Chase.  Fortunately, nobody was injured. 

A Look At Tornadoes Which Have Crossed Into Indiana

Since 1950, Indiana has been struck by nearly 1300 tornadoes.  A very high number - but not all - have occurred entirely within the state boundaries.  The focus of this post is those tornadoes that started in a neighboring state before crossing into Indiana.

In the past 60 years, I found nearly two dozen tornadoes that started in Illinois, Kentucky or Michigan.  I have mapped them and provided a list below.  The text only indicates the last county to be affected in the preceding state and the first county in our state.  The usual caveats apply - namely, paths may be inexact and some tornadoes may not have actually been on the ground as they crossed the state line (since older tornadoes tended to be listed as one long path instead of several smaller ones).

There are a few interesting things in the data.  One, Knox county has been hit by a half dozen twisters passing through from Illinois.  Another noteworthy discovery is that June 2, 1990 is the only day that has had 4 tornadoes pass from Illinois into Indiana.  That day of course owns the largest tornado outbreak in state history.  Also, the tornado that struck the Evansville area on November 6, 2005 tracked from Kentucky into Indiana back into Kentucky and finally back into Indiana due to the shape of the border along the Ohio River.

Tomorrow I will post the tornadoes that started in Indiana before crossing into another state.