EF1 tornado, Antiville to Jay City, Indiana, April 19, 2011

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

April 19, 2011

Touchdown

11:16 PM EDT (03:16 UTC)

Lifted

11:22 PM EDT (03:22 UTC)

On the ground

6 minutes

Path length

6.9 miles (11.1 km)

Path width

50 yards (46 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Jay County

Touchdown point

40.501, -84.981

Lift-off point

40.561, -84.876

Record number

1104192116-01

A warm front attempted to move in during the day, but a strong easterly flow and extensive low clouds and fog did not allow the boundary to mix northward. Low pressure moved from Missouri towards northern Indiana during the evening hours. A line of strong to severe storms initiated ahead of the low and along the warm front and moved into southern parts of the area. A strong low level jet allowed for temperatures and moisture above the surface to increase, causing elevated instability. Damage occurred across several counties in southern portions with much of it occurring at tree top and roof levels, suggesting winds could not fully mix down. Surveys of several areas indicated that brief circulations were embedded within these wind damage swaths, leading to the confirmation of several weak tornadoes.

A survey of straight line wind damage indicated a circulation touched down north of the intersection of County Road 400 N and US 27, near Antiville. Evidence in trees suggested the circulation touched down in an open field and tracked northeast across US 27, snapping 5 power poles as it crossed, causing power flashes observed by local residents. The circulation did not remain in contact with the ground during its roughly 7 mile track. Areas of snapped trees or tree limbs were seen along the track. Structural damage was noted in two locations, mainly to garages or pole barns.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 01:37 UTC and running to 03:43 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 01:10 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.

Versailles (VES), 49 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 113 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:16 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 2011 tornado in IndianaEvery tornado in Indiana since 1950Warnings in force in Indiana nowThe forecast where you are

69 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 70 of them

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.