EF1 tornado, Chalmers to Deer Creek, Indiana, June 5, 2010

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 mph

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. EF3136 to 165 mph

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. EF4166 to 200 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. EF5over 200 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating

EF1

Date

June 5, 2010

Touchdown

1:03 AM EDT (05:03 UTC)

Lifted

1:19 AM EDT (05:19 UTC)

On the ground

16 minutes

Path length

12.6 miles (20.3 km)

Path width

150 yards (137 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

2

Property damage

$600,000

Crop damage

$5,000

Counties

White and Carroll counties

Touchdown point

40.686, -86.813

Lift-off point

40.656, -86.576

Record number

1006052303-01

A supercell developed ahead of a cold front in Illinois and tracked east-southeast through Benton county into White county. This storm produced three tornadoes across Indiana, an EF0 in Eastern White County (which moved into Carroll County), an EF1 which started in eastern Carroll County and moved into Cass County, and a third, a stronger EF3 which formed near the Grissom Air Force base in Cass County and moved rapidly east into Miami County. Despite the tornadoes occurring during the overnight hours, no fatalities occurred.

Thunderstorms developed ahead of an area of low pressure and a cold front during the late evening of June 5th and the early morning of June 6th. These storms brought multiple tornadoes to northern sections of Indiana, including two in Carroll County. These two tornadoes originated from the same thunderstorm. One tornado was reported near Yeoman in western Carroll County and the other was reported in eastern Carroll County.

A survey of damage in eastern White county revealed indications of a weak circulation touching down just south of County Road East 450 South, on County Road South 300 East. The circulation passed over a farm where tree damage occurred as it moved east. Skylights from a shed were blown towards the east with one being found behind a house. Damage was done to roofing of a new pole barn and several items were thrown into a field towards a grove of trees. The tornado began to intensify somewhat but remained over open fields until reaching the Stone Drive area on the west side of Lake Freeman where numerous trees (DI: TS, DOD: 3) were uprooted with some structure damage. The tornado then exited White County over Lake Freeman into Carroll County (see Storm Data for Indiana, Central). Maximum winds are estimated to range between 80 and 85 mph. Damage is estimated at $200,000 from a combination of cleanup of trees and structure damage.

Numerous structures were damaged along the path of this tornado, including several homes, a church, and at least 13 barns. Some of the more significant damage occurred at US Highway 421 and County Road 875 N, with the church receiving roof damage and a boat storage facility having a structure destroyed. This tornado also caused some minor damage to the facility that hosts the transmitter for the NOAA Weather Radio that serves the Lafayette area, WXK-74. The generator on site was damaged. Numerous trees were downed as well. Based on the damage, it appears this was an EF1 tornado with winds near 100 mph. A couple of minor injuries were reported by WLFI.

A trained spotter reported a tornado silhouetted by lightning in this location. This tornado touched down near County Road 700 N and 500 E in eastern Carroll County around 1:25 AM EDT. Two hog barns were destroyed in the path of this tornado before continuing on into Cass County. Based on the damage observed, this appeared to be a high EF1 tornado with winds approaching 110 mph.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

14 minutes of warning. NWS IWX issued a tornado warning for this county at 04:49 UTC, 14 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 05:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 02:11 UTC and running to 06:17 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 01:06 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Lafayette (LAF), 35 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 113 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:03 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2010 tornado in IndianaEvery tornado in Indiana since 1950Warnings in force in Indiana nowThe forecast where you are

42 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.