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.

April 11, 1965 Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak

Today marks the anniversary of the 1965 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak - not only one of the worst tornado events in U.S. history but also Indiana history.  In Indiana, 137 people were killed and nearly 2000 were injured as a series of violent tornadoes impacted the northern and central part of the state.

Although tornado records are more limited farther back in time, there are some data available for Indiana tornadoes going back approximately 200 years.  During that time, few events have even come close to competing with the 1965 outbreak in terms of fatalities, number of killer tornadoes and number of violent tornadoes.  The deadliest tornado outbreaks in Indiana history are as follows:

1.  April 11, 1965:  137

2.  March 18, 1925:  75 (actual number may be slightly higher)

3.  April 3, 1974:  47

# of killer tornadoes:

1.  April 3, 1974:  8
2.  April 11, 1965:  7
3.  June 30, 1877;  June 14, 1880;  April 17, 1922:  4


# of violent tornadoes (F4 or greater):

1.  April 3, 1974:  9
2.  April 11, 1965:  8
3.  June 2, 1990:  5


To put the April 11, 1965 Indiana death toll in perspective, more people were killed in less than 4 hours than in the entire 40 year period prior to that.  The outbreak is also responsible for slightly more than half of our tornado deaths from 1950-2012.

In all, ten tornadoes were confirmed in Indiana.  The first tornado touched down around 5:45 PM in Starke county.  It moved from 3 miles southwest of Hamlet, passed across Koontz Lake and ended about 5 miles south of Elkhart.  Numerous homes and cottages were destroyed.

The second tornado touched down in St. Joseph county about 5 miles southwest of Wakarusa.  The tornado developed a double funnel structure as it crossed US 33 between Elkhart and Goshen.  Numerous deaths occurred at the Midway Trailer Court as many trailers were destroyed.  Additional deaths occurred in the Middlebury area as homes were leveled and swept away.  Elkhart Truth reporter Paul Huffman took a series of photographs, unknowingly capturing what would become the iconic image of this outbreak (the double funnel) and perhaps one of the most spectacular tornado photographs ever taken.  Huffman was standing in the shoulder of US 33 when the famous picture was shot.






Click For Larger Image




The third tornado affected Porter and La Porte counties, moving from Morgan Township to just beyond South Center.  Homes were heavily damaged southwest of Wanatah.  Other homes and barns were destroyed south of Kingsford Heights. 

The fourth tornado touched down southeast of Goshen in Elkhart county and ended near Brighton.  Most of the deaths occurred in the Rainbow Lake and Shore areas, where intensity was near F5.

The fifth tornado touched down in northwest Steuben county before moving into Michigan.  All of the deaths and most of the damage occurred in Michigan.

The sixth tornado, the first of the day to impact central Indiana, occurred in Tippecanoe and Clinton counties.  This tornado is often listed as touching down southeast of Lafayette but tornado damage may have started as far west as Odell.  A few homes were leveled at Mulberry and Moran with the worst damage occurring in Clinton county.

The seventh tornado touched down south of South Bend, passing through parts of St. Joseph, Elkhart and LaGrange counties.  Many people were killed at Dunlap as the Sunnyside and Kingston Heights housing developments were devastated.

The eighth tornado touched down in Montgomery county southeast of Crawfordsville.  This tornado affected parts of three counties - Montgomery, Boone and Hamilton.  The funnel cut a mile wide swath north of Lebanon, destroying dozens of homes and killing several people.  Additional deaths occurred around Sheridan before the tornado dissipated south of Arcadia.

The ninth tornado of the day touched down just southwest of Russiaville, heavily damaging much of that town.  Near Alto and Kokomo, the funnel widened to about 1 mile and destroyed dozens of homes.   Additional homes were leveled along the track before the tornado finally dissipated in Grant county north of Arcana.   


The tenth and final tornado to impact Indiana touched down in Blackford county near the town of Roll.  Heavy damage occurred in Wells county near Keystone and near Linn Grove in Adams county.  The tornado then moved into Ohio.

Map of Tornado Tracks



Tornado narratives and pre-1950 data obtained from:
Thomas P. Grazulis, Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991 (Environmental Films, 1993).

























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).

A History Of July 4 Tornadoes

July 4 is a day that we celebrate by lighting off fireworks, but nature has been known to occasionally provide its own fireworks with tornadoes and other forms of severe weather here.  I was curious to find out just how common Independence Day tornadoes have been over the years.  Although I browsed tornado records back to the 1800's, I could not find any July 4 tornadoes before 1957.  This seems rather improbable and is likely due to poor documentation in earlier years, but I can only post what I know.  I found a total of 7 tornadoes and they are listed and mapped below.  In one instance there was a discrepancy with location which I have noted.