Tornadoes · United States · Indiana · 2012

EF1 tornado, LaPorte County, Indiana, August 4, 2012

This EF1 tornado ran 1.5 miles across LaPorte County on August 4, 2012, touching down at 5:20 PM CDT and reaching 20 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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
August 4, 2012
Touchdown
5:20 PM CDT (22:20 UTC)
Lifted
5:22 PM CDT (22:22 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
1.5 miles (2.3 km)
Path width
20 yards (18 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
LaPorte County
Touchdown point
41.660, -86.621
Lift-off point
41.676, -86.603
Record number
1208041620-01

The warnings

2 minutes of warning. NWS IWX issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:18 UTC, 2 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:00 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 21:36 UTC and running to 23:27 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
21:35 UTC22:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWX
21:36 UTC23:27 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchIWX
22:18 UTC23:00 UTCTornado WarningIWX
04:00 UTC10:21 UTCRip Currents StatementIWX

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. The outlook in force was issued at 19:41 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

10.3 hours before the tornado, 237 km from the path. August 4, 2012.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2012-08-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 3403 joules per kilogram, CIN -57, lifted condensation level 817 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 2012-08-04The 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 61 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 21 knots.1939Sfc1 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
3403 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-57 J/kg
Surface CAPE
661 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
817 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
61 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
63 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
5.8
0-3 km lapse rate
3.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Lincoln, IL (KILX), 00:00Z

1.7 hours after it, 237 km from the path. August 5, 2012.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2012-08-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 857 joules per kilogram, CIN -59, lifted condensation level 1700 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 00:00Z on 2012-08-05The 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 93 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 40 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
857 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-59 J/kg
Surface CAPE
923 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1700 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
93 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
210 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
3.0
0-3 km lapse rate
7.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

La Porte (PPO), 15 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
20:35 UTC89.7873.22140° 5 kt1009.5
20:55 UTC8775.2100° 6 kt1009.5
21:15 UTC8774.840° 0 kt1010.8
21:35 UTC857670° 4 kt1009.8
21:55 UTC8475.7460° 5 kt1009.1TSHZ
22:15 UTC70.8867260° 21 kt331012.2+TSRA
22:35 UTC7067.64180° 6 kt1012.2TSRA
22:55 UTC69.867.82110° 6 kt1011.9-TSRA
23:15 UTC69.6267.82150° 3 kt1012.5-RA
23:35 UTC69.44680° 0 kt1012.2
23:55 UTC69.266880° 6 kt1011.9
00:15 UTC6967.820° 0 kt1011.2

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

The radar

The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 83 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:20 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.

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
21:38 UTCHAIL 12 E AldineStarke, IN
21:45 UTCHEAVY RAIN 1.343 Ne Lincoln HillsPorter, INPAST 30 MINUTES
21:53 UTCTSTM WND GST 59ValparaisoPorter, IN
21:57 UTCTSTM WND DMGWanatahLa Porte, INPOWER LINES DOWN ALONG US 421 NEAR WANATAH AND HAIL SLIGHTLY LARGER THAN QUARTERS ALSO REPORTED.
21:57 UTCHAIL 1.25WanatahLa Porte, INPOWER LINES DOWN ALONG US 421 NEAR WANATAH AND HAIL SLIGHTLY LARGER THAN QUARTERS ALSO REPORTED.
21:57 UTCLIGHTNINGValparaisoPorter, IN2 HOUSE FIRES DUE TO LIGHTNING
21:58 UTCHAIL 1OberStarke, IN
22:00 UTCHEAVY RAIN 0.854 Wsw Boone GrovePorter, INFELL IN PAST 15 MINUTES
22:03 UTCTSTM WND GST 664 Nw South BendSt. Joseph, IN
22:10 UTCTSTM WND DMGLa PorteLa Porte, IN2 LARGE TREES DOWN.
22:20 UTCTSTM WND DMGRolling PrairieLa Porte, INTREES AND POWER LINES DOWN.
22:20 UTCTORNADORolling PrairieLa Porte, INPRELIMINARY DAMAGE SURVEY BY EMERGENCY MANAGER INDICATES DAMAGE TO A RESIDENCE SOUTHEAST OF ROLLING PRARIE CONSISTENT WITH A TORNADIC ROTATION. WINDS DESTROYED THE CARPORT GARAGE AND ROOF SEPARATED SLIGHTLY FROM THE FRAM
22:35 UTCTSTM WND DMGPlymouthMarshall, INTREES DOWN THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY. TREE DOWN ACROSS US31 SOUTH OF 30. LINES DOWN IN CULVER WHICH STARTED A FIRE.
22:38 UTCTSTM WND GST 60MishawakaSt. Joseph, IN
22:38 UTCTSTM WND GST 654 W RoselandSt. Joseph, INESTIMATED 60 TO 70 MPH WINDS. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
22:43 UTCTSTM WND DMGOsceolaSt. Joseph, INCORN FLATTENED.
22:48 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 W ElkhartElkhart, INLARGE BRANCHES DOWN NEAR COUNTY ROAD 1.
22:50 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 N La PorteLa Porte, INA SMALL TREE REPORTED DOWN.
22:50 UTCTSTM WND GST 651 E ElkhartElkhart, IN

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2012 tornado in IndianaEvery tornado in Indiana since 1950Warnings in force in Indiana nowThe forecast where you are

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.