EF1 tornado, Greensburg Arpt, Indiana, May 25, 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

May 25, 2011

Touchdown

5:20 PM EDT (21:20 UTC)

Lifted

5:22 PM EDT (21:22 UTC)

On the ground

2 minutes

Path length

0.1 miles (0.2 km)

Path width

400 yards (366 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$250,000

County

Decatur County

Touchdown point

39.353, -85.509

Lift-off point

39.355, -85.507

Record number

1105251520-01

The approach of a strong low pressure system from the west set the stage for a significant severe weather outbreak across central Indiana on May 25th. Eight tornadoes touched down in central Indiana, with an additional one moving into the area from southern Indiana. In addition, widespread wind damage and large hail impacted the area. Straight line winds to over 70 mph impacted the area as well, knocking down trees, power lines, as well as damaging structures and blowing over trucks. Straight line wind damage was noted near the tornado paths as well. Hail into the 3 to 4 inch range fell from some of the storms, causing damage. The large hail stones were also blown into structures by the strong straight line winds, causing additional damage.

A high end EF-1 tornado, with maximum winds of 100-105 mph impacted the southwest side of Greensburg, with the most extensive damage from the Decatur County Airport northeast through Greensburg City Park, the Greensburg Country Club, and the Country Club Estates neighborhood where about 30 homes sustained damage. Damage began at the airport where roofs were peeled and several garage doors were blown in on the hangar buildings. A Twin Otter plane tethered near the hangars was spun around and cartwheeled about 50 feet to the north. Numerous large oak trees in excess of 4 feet in diameter were completely uprooted through the park and the golf course. A park shelter building was destroyed when a 4 1/2 foot diameter oak tree fell on the structure. Homes throughout the Country Club Estates neighborhood sustained roof, siding and gutter damage with several garage doors blown out. One home had its exterior garage wall bowed. Homes also sustained significant hail damage, with siding severely damaged and windows broken. This tornado was determined to be a mile in length with a maximum width of 600 yards.

Tornado damage was discovered in the Rolling Meadows neighborhood about one half mile south of the Interstate 74 and US 421 interchange and just north of County Road 100 North. This was determined to be from a second tornado, rated EF-1 with maximum winds at 90 mph. Approximately 15-20 homes throughout the neighborhood sustained roof or siding damage, with garage doors buckling and blowing inwards on several of these homes. Much of the debris was strewn into an adjacent farm field. Just across US 421 off to the northeast, a small piece of plywood was found impaled into the stucco on a bank building. The path length was 0.5 miles with a maximum width 400 yards.

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

39 minutes of warning. NWS IND issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:41 UTC, 39 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 13:52 UTC and running to 22:45 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 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. 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 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.

The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 77 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:20 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

93 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 94 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.