NWS Confirms Tornadoes In Vigo County

The NWS in Indianapolis has confirmed two EF0 tornadoes occurred yesterday.  Here is their writeup.

A thunderstorm squall line produced two small, brief tornadoes Wednesday evening near Terre Haute. The first touchdown occurred near 815 PM EDT along East Curry Road near Hultz Road about 5 miles south of Terre Haute. The tornado was observed by a storm spotter and caused damage to several trees. The tornado was rated an EF0 with winds around 80 mph. A second tornado from the same storm occurred near 825 PM EDT in Riley, about 5 miles southeast of Terre Haute. This tornado was observed by Riley volunteer fireman in a field just west of their fire station. The second tornado destroyed a small shed and downed several tree limbs. This tornado was rated an EF0 with associated winds also around 80 mph.

May 21, 1949 Killer Tornadoes

As part of a large tornado outbreak sequence across the U.S., three significant tornadoes struck portions of central Indiana on May 21, 1949.  A short summary of each tornado is provided below.

Tornado #1 initially touched down southwest of Palestine, Illinois, and moved northeast through that town.  All four deaths and most of the damage (peaking at F4 intensity) occurred in Illinois before the tornado moved into Sullivan county.

Tornado #2 touched down south of Cox Field on the east side of Terre Haute.  The tornado damaged several houses on a NNE trek from Terre Haute to southwest of Burnett.  Three deaths occurred and about ten people were injured.

Tornado #3 proved to be the worst tornado of the group.  This tornado touched down near Graysville and moved through Shelburn, devastating part of that town.  The tornado continued northeast, passing south of Bowling Green and ending north of Jordan in Owen county.  Farms were destroyed at several points along the path.  The worst damage occurred in the northwest part of Shelburn, where many homes were damaged/destroyed and thirteen people died.  In all, this F4 tornado killed fourteen people on a path that may have exceeded 40 miles.  Hundreds of animals were also killed. 


Source:

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

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

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.

   

Updated Information On May 25th Outbreak

The NWS in Indianapolis has confirmed 2 additional tornadoes from the May 25th outbreak, an EF1 near Terre Haute and an EF0 in Parke county.  Also, they have upgraded the Bedford area tornado to EF3.


Updated numbers for this year, which again are subject to change.

2/28:  6
4/19-4/20:  26
4/23:  1
5/22:  1
5/23:  2
5/25:  23


EF0:  20 (note:  2/28 Clark county tornado was rated EF0 in Indiana and EF1 in Kentucky)
EF1:  27
EF2:  11
EF3:  1
EF4:  0
EF5:  0