Tornadoes · United States · Indiana · 2011

EF1 tornado, Huntingburg to Haysville, Indiana, May 25, 2011

From Huntingburg to Haysville, this EF1 tornado ran 1.9 miles across Dubois County on May 25, 2011, touching down at 9:54 PM EDT and reaching 60 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $30,000 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.

  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.

The record

Rating
EF1
Date
May 25, 2011
Touchdown
9:54 PM EDT (01:54 UTC)
Lifted
9:55 PM EDT (01:55 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
1.9 miles (3.0 km)
Path width
60 yards (55 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$30,000
County
Dubois County
Touchdown point
38.482, -86.945
Lift-off point
38.487, -86.910
Record number
1105251954-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Warm humid air in place across the Lower Ohio Valley ahead of deep closed low over Missouri led to widespread severe weather across the lower Missouri Valley and Indiana. A squall line developed across southern Illinois and western Kentucky during the afternoon hours on May 25th and raced across southern Indiana at around 45 mph during the evening and early morning hours on the 26th. Widespread wind damage was reported with frequent reports of 60 to 70 mph winds. A bow echo brought several embedded tornadoes across Dubois, Orange, and Washington counties in southern Indiana.

The tornado touched down on in an open field on the south side of Huntingburg. It moved northeast into a residential area, uprooting and snapping numerous large trees and doing roof damage to homes and garages on the west side of Highway 231. It damaged the roofs of several businesses along the highway before striking a mobile home park, where it completely destroyed two homes, and heavily damaged several more. Continuing into a neighborhood of wood-frame homes, the tornado destroyed two more garages - one constructed of cinder blocks - and did minor to moderate roof damage as well as snapping and uprooting trees. The twister then passed just north of the city's Municipal Park and over its water treatment facility, snapping and uprooting trees before crossing over an open field and dissipating near Highway 64 approximately 1 mile east of Huntingburg.

The tornado touched down in an open field 1.6 miles west of Haysville, destroying a metal outbuilding. After traveling over primarily open farmland - snapping trees in wooded areas along the way - the tornado entered the west side of Haysville. It uprooted and snapped the trunks of several more trees before tearing off the roof of a modular home just north of St. Paul's Lutheran Church. The tornado continue east of Highway 231, snapping trees and downing power lines before dissipating in an open field east of town. |||(thoughbefore estroying an An EF-1 Tornado touched down 1.6 miles west of Haysville and lifted just east of Haysville.

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

The warnings

16 minutes of warning. NWS LMK issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:38 UTC, 16 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:21 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 01:34 UTC and running to 04:15 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
16:18 UTC01:34 UTCTornado WatchLMK
22:31 UTC23:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMK
23:01 UTC23:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMK
01:34 UTC04:15 UTCTornado WatchLMK
01:38 UTC02:21 UTCTornado WarningLMK

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 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 00:57 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.

Lincoln, IL (KILX), 12:00Z

10.1 hours after it, 235 km from the path. May 26, 2011.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2011-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN 0, lifted condensation level 472 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2011-05-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 67 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 27 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Surface CAPE
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
472 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
67 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
86 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Huntingburg (HNB), 26 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
23:35 UTC80.668160° 9 kt141001.4
23:55 UTC80.668140° 9 kt151001.4
00:15 UTC80.666.2150° 9 kt1001
00:35 UTC80.666.2150° 10 kt151001.4
00:55 UTC80.666.2140° 10 kt201000.3
01:15 UTC80.666.2150° 10 kt17999.7
01:35 UTC80.666.2160° 13 kt201000.7

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

The radar

The Evansville,IN radar (KVWX), 74 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:55 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)ReportWhereCountyRemark
22:47 UTCHAIL 1.751 S IrelandDubois, IN
23:46 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDMitchellLawrence, IN
23:49 UTCHAIL 2.75BedfordLawrence, INPEA TO BASEBALL SIZE HAIL.
23:50 UTCHAIL 1.254 Nnw BedfordLawrence, IN
23:54 UTCHAIL 2.75BedfordLawrence, INSOUTHERN BEDFORD.
00:00 UTCTORNADOBedfordLawrence, IN
01:08 UTCTSTM WND GST 70PrincetonGibson, INWIND GUSTS ESTIMATED 60 TO 70 MPH.
01:24 UTCDOWNBURST2 Sw ElberfeldWarrick, INSTRAIGHT LINE WINDS ESTIMATED AT 70 MPH. SEVERAL TREES UPROOTED. SHINGLES BLOWN OFF FIRE STATION. LARGE TREE BLOWN OVER ONTO A GARAGE. DAMAGE WAS GENERALLY FROM JUST SOUTHWEST OF TOWN INTO ELBERFELD ITSELF.
01:25 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDBuckskinGibson, IN
01:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGBoonvilleWarrick, IN*** 1 INJ *** LARGE TREE FELL ON HOME INJURING ONE PERSON.
01:35 UTCTORNADOCoePike, INEF2 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN 4.5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF OAKLAND CITY. 120 MPH PEAK WINDS...AVG PATH WIDTH 175 YDS...PATH LENGTH 1.5 MILES. THOUSANDS OF LARGE TREES WERE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED ON MINE RECLAMATION LAND NORTH OF CR 90
01:36 UTCTORNADO3 Sw WinslowPike, INSTORM DAMAGE SURVEY REVEALED AN EF1 TORNADO THAT MOVED FROM JUST NORTH OF COLE INDIANA TO 4 MILES SOUTHEAST OF WINSLOW. SEE PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT FOR DETAILS.
01:39 UTCTORNADO4 S WinslowPike, INA DAMAGE SURVEY REVEALED AN EF1 TORNADO THAT MOVED FROM 4 MILES SOUTH OF WINSLOW TO 4.25 MILES SOUTHEAST OF WINSLOW. SEE PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT FOR DETAILS.
01:42 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Sw Monroe CityKnox, INDOWNED PWR LINES SR 241 AND HART ST RD
01:50 UTCTORNADO1 Se HuntingburgDubois, INEF-2 WITH 115 MPH WINDS
01:54 UTCTORNADO1 W HaysvilleDubois, INEF-1 WITH 100 MPH WINDS. HOME IN HAYSVILLE LOST ITS ROOF. MANY TREES DAMAGED.
01:55 UTCTSTM WND DMGHuntingburgDubois, INOVERTURNED MOBILE HOMES
01:55 UTCTSTM WND DMGJasperDubois, INWIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES REPORTED IN JASPER.
01:56 UTCTSTM WND DMGHuntingburgDubois, INTRACTOR TRAILER BLOWN OVER. CORRECTED TIME.
02:00 UTCTSTM WND DMGHaysvilleDubois, INOUTBUILDINGS DEMOLISHED AND TREES DOWN
02:05 UTCTSTM WND GST 70LoogooteeMartin, IN
02:15 UTCTSTM WND GST 6010 W EnglishCrawford, IN
02:22 UTCTORNADO2 S OrleansOrange, INEF-2 WITH 115 MPH WINDS. TWO BRICK HOMES AND ONE WOOD FRAME HOME HEAVILY DAMAGED. WOOD BARN AND METAL OUTBUILDINGS DESTROYED. 4.7 MILE LONG PATH.
02:25 UTCTSTM WND GST 69OdonDaviess, IN
02:27 UTCTSTM WND GST 70CurbyCrawford, IN
02:28 UTCTORNADO2 Ne LeipsicOrange, INEF-1 WITH 100 MPH WINDS. LARGE WOOD BARN DESTROYED. MANY TREES SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. 3.2 MILE PATH.
02:29 UTCTSTM WND GST 65MilltownCrawford, IN
02:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGEnglishCrawford, INROOF OFF OF A SMALL BUILDING
02:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGHuntingburgDubois, INTRACTOR TRAILER BLOWN OVER
02:31 UTCTORNADO3 W Mount CarmelWashington, INEF-1 WITH 95 MPH WINDS. METAL OUTBUILDING HEAVILY DAMAGED. MANY TREES SNAPPED OR UPROOTED.
02:32 UTCTSTM WND DMGBoonvilleWarrick, INMULTIPLE LARGE TREES DOWN ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF TOWN.
02:40 UTCTSTM WND DMGBristowPerry, INTREES DOWN...SOME DAMAGE TO HOMES INCLUDING SIDING BLOWN OFF HOMES
03:22 UTCFLASH FLOODBedfordLawrence, INSEVERAL ROADS FLOODED SEVERAL INCHES DEEP.

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 25, 2011

93 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 251:30 AM CDTEF1Webster, MO9.3100$20,000
May 257:35 AM CDTEF1Macon, IL1.075$165,000
May 257:39 AM CDTEF1Macon, IL1.575$100,000
May 259:04 AM CDTEF1Kankakee, IL5.850$250,000
May 259:13 AM CDTEF0Newton, IN0.120$25,000
May 259:19 AM CDTEF2Newton, IN1.9300$50,000
May 259:24 AM CDTEF1Jasper, IN2.9100$500
May 259:26 AM CDTEF1Jasper, IN1.9100$50,000
May 2510:45 AM EDTEF0Pulaski, IN0.850
May 2510:45 AM CDTEF0Miami, KS0.140$5,000
May 2511:10 AM CDTEF0Johnson, KS0.760$10,000
May 2511:22 AM CDTEF0Johnson, KS0.140
May 2511:35 AM CDTEF0Cass, MO0.140
May 2511:38 AM CDTEF0Johnson, KS0.140
May 2512:22 PM CDTEF2Pettis, MO2.150020$4.0 million
May 2512:33 PM CDTEF0Clay, MO0.140
May 2512:45 PM CDTEF0Clay, MO0.140
May 2512:52 PM CDTEF0Pettis, MO0.140
May 251:04 PM CDTEF0Cooper, MO0.140
May 251:07 PM CDTEF0Lafayette, MO0.140
May 252:15 PM CDTEF1Montgomery, MO7.1100
May 253:26 PM EDTEF0Van Wert, OH0.140
May 252:56 PM CDTEF1Oregon, MO2.5100$20,000
May 253:49 PM CDTEF3Carter, MO47.41,2002$800,000
May 254:13 PM CDTEF1Jackson, AR5.5500$40,000
May 255:15 PM EDTEF1Decatur, IN0.8600$500,000
May 255:20 PM EDTEF1Decatur, IN0.1400$250,000
May 254:35 PM CDTEF1Madison, MO5.540
May 254:37 PM CDTEF1Wayne, MO17.8150$70,000
May 254:44 PM CDTEF0Carter, MO0.550$2,000
May 254:45 PM CDTEF1Des Moines, IA4.8100$250,000
May 254:46 PM CDTEF1Madison, MO5.3440
May 254:47 PM CDTEF1Madison, MO4.3580
May 254:51 PM CDTEF0Perry, MO0.360$3,000
May 254:58 PM CDTEF0Ripley, MO0.750
May 256:00 PM EDTEF1Huron, OH8.050$250,000
May 255:00 PM CDTEF1Des Moines, IA3.650$50,000
May 255:14 PM CDTEF0Butler, MO0.740
May 256:14 PM EDTEF0Hardin, OH0.225
May 255:26 PM CDTEF1Bollinger, MO13.0250$30,000
May 256:06 PM CDTEF0McLean, IL0.925$8,000
May 256:09 PM CDTEF1McLean, IL10.375$10,000
May 257:10 PM EDTEF0Montgomery, OH0.125$5,000
May 256:18 PM CDTEF1Cape Girardeau, MO2.1250$20,000
May 256:18 PM CDTEF0St. Francis, AR1.1100
May 256:28 PM CDTEF2Jefferson, IL13.5250$4.0 million
May 256:30 PM CDTEF0Scott, MO0.450$1,000
May 257:30 PM EDTEF0Summit, OH4.250$200,000
May 256:39 PM CDTEF1Union, IL2.0125$150,000
May 256:40 PM CDTEF1Pulaski, IL5.5250$50,000
May 256:45 PM CDTEF1Pulaski, IL10.0120$40,000
May 256:48 PM CDTEF1Crittenden, AR2.5100$500,000
May 256:55 PM CDTEF2Pulaski, IL19.9325$255,000
May 256:58 PM CDTEF0Champaign, IL0.215$5,000
May 257:58 PM EDTEF3Lawrence, IN6.8300$150,000
May 255:08 PM PDTEF1Glenn, CA21.6120$200,000
May 255:12 PM PDTEF1Glenn, CA26.4120$150,000
May 257:18 PM CDTEF1Clay, IL1.075$510,000
May 257:35 PM CDTEF0Richland, IL0.210
May 257:57 PM CDTEF2Crawford, IL5.5200$920,000

All 94 of them

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.