Tornadoes · United States · Indiana · 2011
EF0 tornado, Sunman to Weisburg, Indiana, May 23, 2011
From Sunman to Weisburg, this EF0 tornado ran 3.1 miles across Dearborn and Ripley counties on May 23, 2011, touching down at 6:43 PM EDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $45,000 of property damage.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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.
The record
- Rating
- EF0
- Date
- May 23, 2011
- Touchdown
- 6:43 PM EDT (22:43 UTC)
- Lifted
- 6:47 PM EDT (22:47 UTC)
- On the ground
- 4 minutes
- Path length
- 3.1 miles (5.0 km)
- Path width
- 50 yards (46 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $45,000
- Counties
- Dearborn and Ripley counties
- Touchdown point
- 39.202, -85.107
- Lift-off point
- 39.224, -85.057
- Record number
- 1105231643-01
What the Weather Service recorded
A quasi-linear convective system moved across an unstable airmass and produced widespread severe weather.
The tornado initially touched down in Ripley County at 1743 near County Road 900. Numerous large trees were down in different directions and at least one power pole was snapped in this location. The tornado then continued to the northeast and passed into Dearborn County at 1745 just northwest of Tangman Road. Along Tangman Road, large trees were down in different directions, a metal roof was torn off of a large pole barn, and a barn was destroyed due to the tornado. A short distance to the northeast, trees were snapped near Hill Road. The tornado lifted in Dearborn County at 1747. Damage estimates for Ripley County were five thousand dollars. Damage estimates for Dearborn County were forty thousand dollars. Maximum estimated wind speed based on damage was around eighty miles per hour. The tornado was on the ground for 1.48 miles in Ripley County and 1.60 miles in Dearborn County. The entire path length of the tornado was 3.08 miles.
The tornado initially touched down in Ripley County at 1743 near County Road 900. Numerous large trees were down in different directions and at least one power pole was snapped in this location. The tornado then continued to the northeast and passed into Dearborn County at 1745 just northwest of Tangman Road. Along Tangman Road, large trees were down in different directions, a metal roof was torn off of a large pole barn, and a barn was destroyed due to the tornado. A short distance to the northeast, trees were snapped near Hill Road. The tornado lifted in Dearborn County at 1747. Damage estimates for Ripley County were five thousand dollars. Damage estimates for Dearborn County were forty thousand dollars. Maximum estimated wind speed based on damage was around eighty miles per hour. The tornado was on the ground for 1.48 miles in Ripley County and 1.60 miles in Dearborn County. The entire path length of the tornado was 3.08 miles.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
20 minutes of warning. NWS ILN issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:23 UTC, 20 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:00 UTC.
The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 20:28 UTC and running to 00:46 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20:28 UTC | 00:46 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | ILN |
| 22:14 UTC | 22:59 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILN |
| 22:23 UTC | 23:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | ILN |
| 22:34 UTC | 00:00 UTC | Flood Advisory | ILN |
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 forecast that day
The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:39 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 air that afternoon
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.
Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), 12:00Z
10.7 hours before the tornado, 113 km from the path. May 23, 2011.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 170 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -56 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 226 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 776 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 49 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 33 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 183 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 246 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.2
- Supercell composite
- 0.9
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.7 K/km
Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), 00:00Z
1.3 hours after it, 113 km from the path. May 24, 2011.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 729 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -44 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 1714 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1494 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 29 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 23 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 144 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 215 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.2
- Supercell composite
- 5.2
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 7.3 K/km
The surface observations
Cincinnati / N Kentucky Intl (CVG), 40 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20:52 UTC | 82 | 63 | 200° 15 kt | 22 | 1008.8 | |
| 21:52 UTC | 82 | 63 | 210° 10 kt | 18 | 1007.8 | |
| 22:52 UTC | 79 | 64 | 220° 7 kt | 1007.8 | ||
| 23:03 UTC | 78.8 | 64.4 | 220° 6 kt | 1008.5 | TS | |
| 23:10 UTC | 73.4 | 62.6 | 280° 33 kt | 49 | 1011.5 | +TSRA |
| 23:12 UTC | 69.8 | 60.8 | 280° 32 kt | 49 | 1011.2 | +TSRA SQ |
| 23:21 UTC | 64.4 | 60.8 | 270° 20 kt | 37 | 1011.5 | +TSRA BR |
| 23:25 UTC | 64.4 | 60.8 | 260° 18 kt | 32 | 1011.9 | TSRA BR |
| 23:34 UTC | 64.4 | 60.8 | 260° 13 kt | 19 | 1011.5 | TSRA BR |
| 23:52 UTC | 65 | 61 | 260° 13 kt | 19 | 1011.9 | TSRA BR |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 111 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:42 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.
What was reported nearby
Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Wsw Westport | Decatur, IN | A BARN WAS REPORTED TO BE DESTROYED NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF STATE ROUTE 3 AND CR 700 WEST. |
| 22:18 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Nne Westport | Decatur, IN | THREE GRAIN BINS WERE BLOWN OVER NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF S CR 350W AND W CR 850S. |
| 22:24 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | North Madison | Jefferson, IN | LARGE TREES DOWN...ROOF DAMAGE...STEEPLE BLOWN OFF A CHURCH...OUTBUILDING DESTROYED |
| 22:30 UTC | HAIL 1 | Holton | Ripley, IN | |
| 22:34 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Napoleon | Ripley, IN | BARN DESTROYED. NUMEROUS TREES DOWN ACROSS THE COUNTY. |
| 22:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Connersville | Fayette, IN | TRAILERS OVERTURNED. |
| 22:43 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 6 Nne Milan | Ripley, IN | CONFIRMED BY NWS STORM SURVEY. EF0 TORNADO WITH WIND SPEEDS APPROXIMATELY 80 MPH. |
| 22:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Vevay | Switzerland, IN | TREES DOWN. |
| 22:47 UTC | TSTM WND GST 55 | 8 S Brookville | Dearborn, IN | |
| 22:51 UTC | TSTM WND GST 65 | Guilford | Dearborn, IN | TREES DOWN ALONG STATE ROUTE 1. WIND GUST ESTIMATED. |
| 22:55 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Moores Hill | Dearborn, IN | TREES/LARGE LIMBS DOWNED |
| 22:57 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 N West College Corner | Union, IN | BARN DAMAGED AND TREES KNOCKED DOWN NEAR INDIANA 44 AT 9 MILE RD. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2011 tornado in IndianaEvery tornado in Indiana since 1950Warnings in force in Indiana nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of May 23, 2011
17 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 23 | 1:45 PM CDT | EF0 | Howell, MO | 1.0 | 100 | $10,000 | ||
| May 23 | 3:54 PM CDT | EF0 | Cape Girardeau, MO | 0.5 | 40 | $1,000 | ||
| May 23 | 5:23 PM EDT | EF2 | Juniata, PA | 4.7 | 250 | $50,000 | ||
| May 23 | 4:26 PM CDT | EF0 | Blaine, OK | 0.3 | 15 | |||
| May 23 | 5:32 PM EDT | EF0 | Huntington, IN | 0.4 | 30 | |||
| May 23 | 5:39 PM EDT | EF1 | Northumberland, PA | 1.2 | 100 | $50,000 | ||
| May 23 | 6:15 PM EDT | EF0 | Luce, MI | 2.4 | 50 | |||
| May 23 | 5:25 PM CDT | EF1 | Gallatin, IL | 11.8 | 200 | $250,000 | ||
| May 23 | 6:37 PM EDT | EF1 | Schuylkill, PA | 0.2 | 75 | $20,000 | ||
| May 23 | 5:52 PM CDT | EF0 | Osage, OK | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 23 | 6:56 PM EDT | EF1 | Van Wert, OH | 4.1 | 100 | |||
| May 23 | 7:25 PM EDT | EF0 | Carbon, PA | 0.4 | 50 | 1 | $75,000 | |
| May 23 | 7:43 PM EDT | EF0 | Clermont, OH | 0.2 | 33 | $30,000 | ||
| May 23 | 6:52 PM CDT | EF2 | Stewart, TN | 13.3 | 150 | 2 | $250,000 | |
| May 23 | 7:55 PM EDT | EF1 | Greene, OH | 0.9 | 100 | $3,000 | ||
| May 23 | 8:10 PM EDT | EF1 | Clark, OH | 0.4 | 100 | $15,000 | ||
| May 23 | 7:10 PM CDT | EF2 | Christian, KY | 17.3 | 175 | 1 | $350,000 |
What this means
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.
Sources
NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.