June 11, 1998 Tornado Outbreak

On this date in 1998, ten tornadoes struck northern and central parts of the state.  The strongest tornado touched down in far eastern Marion county in the early evening and quickly intensified to F4 as it passed into Hancock county.  Fortunately, this tornado resulted in no fatalities and only 4 injuries.  Another strong tornado touched down in Howard county, doing significant damage in Greentown.  In all, 17 people were injured in this outbreak.

May 14, 1972 Indianapolis Area Tornado

Today marks the 40th anniversary of one of the most powerful tornadoes to strike the Indianapolis area since records began.  The tornado had a non-continuous damage path of 29 miles and first touched down on the east side of Indianapolis in the 9700 block of East Washington Street.  The tornado was seen by a number of people and pictures were taken showing another funnel cloud.  At the Drake Terrace Apartments, a second floor wall was blown down.  In the 1100 block of North German Church Road, three steel high tension towers were blown down.  Some of the worst damage occurred in the Heather Hills subdivision where ten houses were flattened.  In Marion county, about 70 homes were damaged or destroyed.  In Mount Comfort, clocks were stopped at 12:25 PM and a railroad car was tipped over.  Near Eden, roofs were damaged and trees were uprooted.  Northwest of Markleville, several mobile homes were severely damaged.  The last damage occurred at Mechanicsburg where a barn was unroofed.  Somewhat miraculously, nobody was killed but about 20 people were injured.

Several F3 tornadoes have struck Indianapolis since records began, but the 1972 tornado may be the only F4 that has occurred within the Indianapolis city limits.  Another tornado in 1998 began in eastern Marion county but apparently did not produce F4 damage until it reached Hancock county.


Sources:

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

NWS Confirms The First Tornadoes Of 2012

The NWS in Louisville has confirmed 3 tornadoes struck far southern Indiana this morning.  Two of them were rated EF0 and one was rated EF1.  I will have more on these tornadoes shortly, but for now, here are the results of the storm surveys:



PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
0514 PM EST TUE JAN 17 2012

..EF-0 TORNADO CONFIRMED IN JEFFERSON COUNTY INDIANA

DAMAGE TYPE: TORNADO
       DATE: JAN 17 2012
START TIME: 10:40 AM EST
   END TIME: 10:40 AM EST
   EF SCALE: 0 
WIND SPEED: 85 MPH
PATH LENGTH: 0.3 MILES
PATH WIDTH: 60 YARDS

NARRATIVE: AN EF-0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN AT THE MADISON COUNTY 
AIRPORT. DAMAGE WAS CONFINED TO IMS LANE. THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN 
BRIEFLY ALONG THIS PATH AND MOVED AN AT LEAST 500 POUND DUMPSTER 35
FEET SOUTHEAST. IT ALSO MOVED A BEECHCRAFT/KING AIR PLANE 10 DEGREES
AND THE NOSE GEAR WAS BROKEN. THE AIRPORT OPERATIONS BUILDING HAD A 
DISABLED AWNING AND POST. PART OF A HANGAR'S SIDING CAME OFF WITH 
SIDING AND INSULATION UP IN TREES. SEVERAL TREES WERE SNAPPED ALONG 
THE NARROW PATH. A WITNESS SAW THE SWIRL AS THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN.  



PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
0649 PM EST TUE JAN 17 2012   

..EF-0 TORNADO CONFIRMED IN CLARK COUNTY INDIANA

DAMAGE TYPE: TORNADO
       DATE: JAN 17 2012
START TIME: 11:06 AM EST
   END TIME: 11:07 AM EST
WIND SPEED: 75 MPH
PATH LENGTH: 1.9 MILES
PATH WIDTH: 30 YARDS

NARRATIVE: AN EF-0 TORNADO FIRST TOUCHED DOWN AT THE WAL-MART 
PARKING LOT ON THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF THE VETERAN'S PARKWAY NEAR 
I-65. A VEHICLE WAS TURNED OVER ON I-65, THEN THE TORNADO SKIPPED 
OVER AN AREA BEFORE COMING DOWN AGAIN ON A SUBDIVISION TO THE EAST, 
WITH DAMAGE OCCURRING ALONG BELMAR DR AND MEADOWS DR AS WELL AS AT 
THE INTERSECTION OF KINGSFIELD ST AND CROWN CT. IT TOOK DOWN SEVERAL
FENCES, WITH EVIDENCE OF CYCLONIC CIRCULATION. IT LIFTED AGAIN 
BEFORE COMING DOWN AND TAKING THE ROOF OF A BARN ON ARMSTRONG RD., 
WHERE THE TORNADO ENDED.
  


PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
0742 PM EST TUE JAN 17 2012  

..EF-1 TORNADO CONFIRMED IN FLOYD COUNTY INDIANA

DAMAGE TYPE: TORNADO
       DATE: JAN 17 2012
START TIME: 11:00 AM EST
   END TIME: 11:02 AM EST
WIND SPEED: 95-100 MPH
PATH LENGTH: 1.2 MILES
PATH WIDTH: 50 YARDS

NARRATIVE: EF-1 TORNADO FIRST TOUCHED DOWN ON EAST RILEY RD. IN 
FLOYDS KNOBS, WHERE A GARAGE WAS DESTROYED. THE TORNADO CONTINUED 
EAST ACROSS THE KNOBS TOWARD BINFORD RD, WHERE IT TOOK MULTIPLE 
TREES DOWN.  THE TORNADO CROSSED PAOLI PIKE JUST NORTH OF I-265 AND 
CAUSED ROOF DAMAGE AT THE KNOB POINT APARTMENTS.
   

November 22, 1992 Tornado Outbreak

Today is the anniversary of the November 22, 1992 tornado outbreak.  This outbreak spawned 15 tornadoes in central Indiana and is the largest November tornado outbreak on record here.  Here is a writeup from the NWS in Indianapolis:

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ind/?n=nov22_1992tor

September 20, 2002 Tornadoes

Today marks the 9 year anniversary of the September 20, 2002 tornado outbreak.  When we think about local tornado climatology, we don't tend to think of September as being an active month.  The events of September 20, 2002 - and one tornado in particular - would turn climatology on its head.

The first of 6 tornadoes touched down in Posey county at 9:40 AM local time.  It was on the ground for less than a quarter mile and caused no significant damage.  The same thunderstorm would produce a stronger F2 tornado near Poseyville at 9:50 AM local time.  This tornado destroyed 10 mobile homes and 4 other buildings and had a path length just under 5 miles.

After a break, another tornado would form in northwestern Pike county and move into Knox and Daviess counties.  In Knox county, the tornado destroyed a few homes and damaged several others and peaked at F2 intensity.  A conservation officer in his vehicle was thrown an eighth of a mile by the tornado.  The tornado weakened to F0 as it moved into Daviess county, finally lifting after being on the ground for over 13 miles.

After another break in the action, the most notable tornado of the day touched down in Ellettsville at 12:59 PM local time and started producing F3 damage shortly thereafter.  After weakening and heading northeast into Morgan county, the tornado reintensified and produced more F3 damage in Martinsville.  The tornado remained at F2-F3 strength as it continued northeast into Johnson and Marion counties, producing additional F3 damage at Greenwood.  The tornado took a slight left turn and entered the city of Indianapolis around 1:45 PM, generally producing F1-F2 damage on its trek through the southern and eastern portions of the city.  The tornado exited Marion county just after 2 PM and continued northeast through several more counties, producing its final damage in Hartford City at 3:20 PM.  In all, about 130 people were injured by this tornado with damage in excess of $150 million.

2 other tornadoes occurred simultaneous to the long track tornado.  One of them damaged 10 single family homes and 30 mobile homes in Henry county and was rated F2.  The other tornado destroyed 2 barns and 2 mobile homes in Rush county and was rated F0.

This event probably would've been forgettable were it not for the long-tracked F3 tornado.  This tornado is interesting in several respects:

1) Its path length of 112 miles makes it one of the longest tracked tornadoes to ever hit the state (reanalysis of the April 3, 1974 Monticello tornado reduced the path length from 121 to 108 miles).  The tornado was on the ground for a total of 2 hours and 21 minutes, giving it an average forward speed of about 48 miles per hour.

2) The tornado passed through 9 counties, second most behind the April 3, 1974 Monticello tornado

3) It is the second longest tornado to hit the United States in the month of September since 1950

4) The tornado did not occur as part of a discrete supercell; rather, it formed along a QLCS/squall line

5) Although the tornado was rain-wrapped much of the time and passed through urbanized areas, no deaths occurred      


Here is a map of the tornado paths courtesy of NWS Indianapolis (note:  Posey county tracks not included)

September 12, 1988 Indianapolis Tornado

Still waiting for the May Storm Data to come in so the May tornado statistics can be finalized.  Hopefully this occurs sometime in the next couple weeks.

Anyway, since posts have been lacking as of late, I thought I'd mention that today is the anniversary of a F1 tornado that hit Indianapolis.  The tornado began on the north side of the city and moved northeast through Marion, Hamilton and Madison counties.  Roofs and automobiles were reportedly damaged along the path.  The tornado caused intermittent damage over a path length of about 35 miles and resulted in 1 injury. 

Top 10 Tornadoes Since 1950

#7 - September 20, 2002 Ellettsville to Hartford City Tornado



This is probably one of the lesser known tornadoes but that doesn't mean it wasn't impressive. It was on the ground for 2 hours and 21 minutes and traveled 112 miles and charged through the south and east side of Indianapolis.  Fortunately, there were no fatalities but over 100 people were injured. This tornado was rated F3 and caused over $100 million in damage.

Top 10 Tornadoes Since 1950

#8 - April 3, 1974 Henryville/Madison Tornado


11 were killed and approximately 200 injured by this F4 tornado which was on the ground for 35 miles and was over a half mile wide.

April 17, 1922 Tornadoes

On April 17, 1922, multiple killer tornadoes struck Indiana.  One tornado nearly destroyed the tiny Warren county community of Hedrick before moving through Williamsport.  Another killer tornado struck Tipton and Madison counties, doing significant damage near Orestes.  Seventeen people died in all.

Here are the 500 mb and surface maps from that day.