A pulse-storm resulted in a brief tornado in a field. It was confirmed via a photograph by a storm spotter which showed a cloud of dirt being spun-up.
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Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS IWX wrote it up.
A pulse-storm resulted in a brief tornado in a field. It was confirmed via a photograph by a storm spotter which showed a cloud of dirt being spun-up.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Northern Indiana wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 3, 1:25 PM EST, 1 hour 22 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Northern Indiana 225 PM EDT Sun Oct 3 2021 .SYNOPSIS... Issued at 224 PM EDT Sun Oct 3 2021 Showers and isolated thunderstorms are expected late this afternoon into this evening, with chances for scattered showers continuing into tonight and Monday. Mainly dry conditions and seasonable temperatures are expected on Tuesday, with periodic rain chances returning late Wednesday through Friday. && .SHORT TERM...(This Afternoon through Monday) Issued at 224 PM EDT Sun Oct 3 2021 Showers and scattered thunderstorms will continue to blossom over the area this afternoon as a central IL upper low tracks ene into a moisture rich airmass. Pockets of boundary layer heating and instability will also be a substantial component with heavier rainfall rates and locally heavy rainfall possible into the early evening. The upper low and attendant weak low level trough/low will stall overhead tonight, eventually opening into a low-mid level trough and gradually sinking se on Monday. This will keep clouds and shower chances in the forecast, though coverage/intensity will diminish tonight into Monday morning with loss of heating and dampening of the main upper wave. A flare up in the shower activity will then once again be possible during peak heating tomorrow, this time focused more over our ne IN/nw OH zones. Remaining mild otherwise with lows near 60 and highs in the low-mid 70s && .LONG TERM...(Monday Night through Sunday) Issued at 224 PM EDT Sun Oct 3 2021 A rex block looks to set up Tuesday into Wednesday as an anomalous 588-590 dam mid level ridge folds through the Great Lakes and Ontario, cutting off low pressure over the western TN Valley. The local area will be caught in between with light easterly flow, seasonable temps and mainly dry conditions as better rain chances set up well south near an inverted trough. The last several model cycles have come into much better agreement in the upper low and sfc trough returning back north with renewed rain shower chances later Wednesday through Friday. This will occur in response to a longwave trough reaching the western North America shore, with warm advection and height rises possibly allowing highs to make a run at 80F by next weekend in advance of this feature reaching the Rockies and Plains. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Monday Afternoon) Issued at 140 PM EDT Sun Oct 3 2021 Upper low will move across the area this afternoon with uptick in showers and a few storms already underway upstream in IL into western IN. Impacts will be felt first at KSBN and delayed slightly at KFWA with VFR conditions outside any showers and brief drops to MVFR in any convection. Have left mention of thunder out for now given exact timing or proximity to a site, but a stray lightning strike or 2 at either location is possible. After 00Z Mon, showers should quickly diminish but may still be a few around so went with VCSH but VFR conditions holding. Forecast gets a bit trickier around/after 6Z Mon as some models suggest stratus development, with lowest cigs at KSBN as moist boundary layer from rainfall combined with wrap around moisture behind the low bring at least MVFR conditions through mid morning Monday and possibly IFR at KSBN. && .IWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IN...NONE. MI...NONE. OH...NONE. LM...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...Steinwedel SHORT TERM...Steinwedel LONG TERM...Steinwedel AVIATION...Fisher Visit us at www.weather.gov/iwx Follow us on Facebook...Twitter...and YouTube at: www.facebook.com/NWSNorthernIndiana www.twitter.com/nwsiwx www.youtube.com/NWSNorthernIndiana
Hazardous Weather Outlook...UPDATED National Weather Service Northern Indiana 227 PM EDT Sun Oct 3 2021 INZ003>009-012>018-020-022>027-032>034-MIZ077>081-OHZ001-002-004-005- 015-016-024-025-041830- La Porte-St. Joseph IN-Elkhart-Lagrange-Steuben-Noble-De Kalb-Starke- Pulaski-Marshall-Fulton IN-Kosciusko-Whitley-Allen IN-White-Cass IN- Miami-Wabash-Huntington-Wells-Adams-Grant-Blackford-Jay-Berrien- Cass MI-St. Joseph MI-Branch-Hillsdale-Williams-Fulton OH-Defiance- Henry-Paulding-Putnam-Van Wert-Allen OH- 227 PM EDT Sun Oct 3 2021 /127 PM CDT Sun Oct 3 2021/ This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for northern Indiana, southwest Michigan and northwest Ohio. .DAY ONE...This afternoon and tonight. Scattered thunderstorms are expected this afternoon into early this evening. Locally heavy rainfall will be possible with these thunderstorms, but severe weather is not expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday. Afternoon thunderstorms are possible Monday, but no severe weather is expected. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time. LMZ043-046-041830- New Buffalo MI to St Joseph MI-Michigan City IN to New Buffalo MI- 227 PM EDT Sun Oct 3 2021 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the nearshore waters of southeastern Lake Michigan. .DAY ONE...This afternoon and tonight. There are chances for thunderstorms today, but no severe weather is expected. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday. Afternoon thunderstorms are possible Monday, but no severe weather is expected. Conditions may also be hazardous to small craft Monday night.
The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 76 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:47 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A trained spotter photographed a brief tornado in a farm field north of US 20 and Walnut Grove intersection. The photo showed dirt being kicked up in the farm field. The tornado lasted about one minute. No damage was reported.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Indiana in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Indiana, 2021Warnings in Indiana, October 2021
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 985711.