Tornadoes · United States · Indiana · 2014
EF1 tornado, LaPorte County, Indiana, June 30, 2014
This EF1 tornado ran 4.7 miles across LaPorte County on June 30, 2014, touching down at 11:24 PM CDT and reaching 200 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.
EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
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
- EF1
- Date
- June 30, 2014
- Touchdown
- 11:24 PM CDT (04:24 UTC)
- Lifted
- 11:28 PM CDT (04:28 UTC)
- On the ground
- 4 minutes
- Path length
- 4.7 miles (7.6 km)
- Path width
- 200 yards (183 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- LaPorte County
- Touchdown point
- 41.479, -86.684
- Lift-off point
- 41.485, -86.593
- Record number
- 1406302224-01
The damage survey
1 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS IWX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 110 mph.
- swath of major tree damage. uprooted and snapped towards ne and n. 18 to 24 inch diameter trees. all healthy.
Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.
The warnings
20 minutes of warning. NWS IWX issued a tornado warning for this county at 04:04 UTC, 20 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 04:30 UTC.
The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 03:35 UTC and running to 05:44 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18:00 UTC | 19:59 UTC | Beach Hazard Statement | IWX |
| 20:56 UTC | 03:35 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | IWX |
| 01:12 UTC | 02:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IWX |
| 03:35 UTC | 05:44 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | IWX |
| 03:57 UTC | 04:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IWX |
| 04:04 UTC | 04:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | IWX |
| 04:18 UTC | 04:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | IWX |
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 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:00 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), 00:00Z
4.4 hours before the tornado, 222 km from the path. July 1, 2014.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 3809 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -77 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 5602 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 981 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 40 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 282 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 304 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 3.4
- Supercell composite
- 27.2
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.3 K/km
Lincoln, IL (KILX), 12:00Z
7.6 hours after it, 222 km from the path. July 1, 2014.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -77201 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 143 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1361 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 26 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 19 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -91 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -2 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 2.7 K/km
The radar
The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 79 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:22 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01:26 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | 5 N La Porte | La Porte, IN | ESTIMATED WIND GUST OF 50 TO 60 MPH |
| 01:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Michigan City | La Porte, IN | TWO FOOT DIAMETER TREE SNAPPED AT THE BASE |
| 01:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Valparaiso | Porter, IN | 1 TO 3 INCH DIAMETER BRANCHES DOWN. NEAR INDIANA ROUTE 130. |
| 01:44 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Fish Lake | La Porte, IN | DOWNED POWER LINES REPORTED |
| 01:50 UTC | HAIL 1.25 | New Carlisle | St. Joseph, IN | QUARTER TO NEARLY HALF DOLLAR SIZE HAIL. |
| 01:55 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | W South Bend | St. Joseph, IN | REPORTS OF TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ON WEST SIDE OF SOUTH BEND IN THE EDISON ROAD AREA. |
| 03:43 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Crown Point | Lake, IN | MULTIPLE LARGE TREES UPROOTED. THIS WAS THE CASE ACROSS THE COUNTY...INCLUDING LARGE BRANCHES AND POWER LINES DOWNED. TIME ESTIMATED PER RADAR. |
| 03:47 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Hobart | Lake, IN | MULTIPLE LARGE TREES DOWNED. TIME ESTIMATED PER RADAR. |
| 03:49 UTC | TORNADO | 3 W De Motte | Jasper, IN | EF-1 TORNADO WITH MAXIMUM WINDS UP TO 100-105 MPH TOUCHED DOWN WEST OF DE MOTTE AND LIFTED ABOUT 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF DE MOTTE. CONSISTENT 100-200 YARD SWATH OF SIGNIFICANT TREE DAMAGE THROUGH PATH...AS WELL AS TWO DESTR |
| 03:49 UTC | TORNADO | 4 Wsw De Motte | Jasper, IN | AN NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM DETERMINED AN EF-1 TORNADO WITH MAXIMUM WINDS OF 100-105 MPH. THIS TORNADO HAD A PATH LENGTH OF AROUND SIX MILES AND ENDED AROUND 2 MILES EAST-NORTHEAST OF DE MOTTE. CONSISTENT 100-200 YARD SWATH |
| 03:51 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Portage | Porter, IN | MULTIPLE LARGE TREES DOWNED. TIME ESTIMATED PER RADAR. |
| 03:52 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 Sw Hebron | Lake, IN | TREES SNAPPED AND UPROOTED. SHINGLES RIPPED FROM ROOF AND DAMAGE TO SIDING AND DOWNSPOUTS. MEASURED WIND SPEED OF 75 MPH FROM WEATHER STATION BEFORE ELECTRICITY ENDED. TIME ESTIMATED PER RADAR. |
| 03:52 UTC | TSTM WND GST 100 | 4 Sw Hebron | Lake, IN | HARDWOOD AND SOFTWOOD TREES SNAPPED AND UPROOTED SUPPORT STRAIGHT LINE WIND SPEEDS OF UP TO 85-100 MPH. |
| 03:55 UTC | TORNADO | 4 Ene De Motte | Jasper, IN | AN NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM DETERMINED A BRIEF EF-1 TORNADO OCCURRED. THIS TORNADO TRACKED EAST-NORTHEAST FOR APPROXIMATELY ONE MILE. THIS HAD MAXIMUM WINDS OF 90 TO 100 MPH AND A MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH OF 100 YARDS. DAMAGE INC |
| 03:58 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Valparaiso | Porter, IN | MANY TREES DOWNED ACROSS THE COUNTY. TIME ESTIMATED PER RADAR. |
| 04:05 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | Valparaiso | Porter, IN | |
| 04:18 UTC | TSTM WND GST 70 | 5 N La Porte | La Porte, IN | |
| 04:22 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Kingsbury | La Porte, IN | TREE DOWN ONTO HOME. WINDOWS BROKEN ON WEST SIDE OF GARAGE. NEAR US 6 AND US 35. |
| 04:22 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Kingsford Heights | La Porte, IN | NUMEROUS TREES DOWN ONTO HOMES. SEVERAL ROADS IMPASSABLE |
| 04:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Winamac | Pulaski, IN | TREES DOWN ACROSS NORTHERN PART OF THE COUNTY ESPECIALLY NORTH OF WINAMAC |
| 04:35 UTC | TORNADO | 1 S Donaldson | Marshall, IN | NWS STORM SURVEY CONFIRMED AN EF-1 TORNADO WITH MAXIMUM WINDS OF 105 MPH THAT HAD A PATH LENGTH OF 7 MILES FROM 1 S OF DONALDSON TO 1 N OF PLYMOUTH. THIS IS A WESTWARD EXTENSION OF THE PREVIOUS TRACK AND INCREASE IN INTE |
| 04:37 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | La Porte | La Porte, IN | TREE DAMAGE REPORTED AROUND PINE LAKE |
| 04:40 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Wnw Plymouth | Marshall, IN | NWS STORM SURVEY CONFIRMED AN EF-0 TORNADO WITH MAXIMUM WINDS OF 80 MPH THAT HAD A PATH LENGTH OF 1.3 MILES FROM 2 WNW OF PLYMOUTH TO 1 N OF PLYMOUTH. EXTENSIVE TREE DAMAGE OCCURRED WITH SOME STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO BUILDIN |
| 04:41 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Ne Plymouth | Marshall, IN | NWS STORM SURVEY CONFIRMED AN EF-1 TORNADO WITH MAXIMUM WINDS OF 95 MPH THAT HAD A PATH LENGTH OF 0.2 MILES. SEVERE TREE DAMAGE AND CONSIDERABLE STRUCTURE DAMAGE TO A HOME OCCURRED. A GARAGE WAS DESTROYED FROM A LARGE UP |
| 04:43 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | South Bend | St. Joseph, IN | TREES BLOWN DOWN ALONG GREENLAWN NEAR THE ZOO. |
| 04:43 UTC | TSTM WND GST 68 | 4 Nw South Bend | St. Joseph, IN | |
| 04:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | South Bend | St. Joseph, IN | 3 TREE LIMBS DOWN AT HOME. ONE LANDED ON CAR |
| 04:47 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | La Paz | Marshall, IN | REPORTS OF MULTIPLE TREES DOWN AS WELL AS POWER LINES THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY. |
| 04:52 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Bremen | Marshall, IN | TREES DOWN AND ONE POWER POLE PARTIALLY DOWN IN BREMEN. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 04:54 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Tippecanoe | Marshall, IN | FIRE OFFICIALS REPORTING TREES DOWN |
| 05:00 UTC | TSTM WND GST 73 | Wakarusa | Elkhart, IN | BETWEEN NAPPANEE AND WAKARUSA WEST OF SR 19. 6 TO 8 INCH DIAMETER LIMBS AND UTILITY LINES DOWN. CORN CROP LAYED OVER |
| 05:06 UTC | TORNADO | 2 S Gravelton | Kosciusko, IN | DAMAGE FOUND CONSISTENT WITH A EF0 TORNADO. TOUCHDOWN WEST OF MILFORD. SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO A STORAGE SHED AND BARN. CROP DAMAGE IN AREA. MAX WINDS 80 MPH. LENGTH 1.9 MILES. |
| 05:08 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | Elkhart | Elkhart, IN |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2014 tornado in IndianaEvery tornado in Indiana since 1950Warnings in force in Indiana nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of June 30, 2014
45 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 30 | 12:42 PM CDT | EF1 | Adair, IA | 7.1 | 200 | $200,000 | ||
| June 30 | 1:02 PM CDT | EF1 | Story, IA | 12.0 | 460 | $220,000 | ||
| June 30 | 1:13 PM CDT | EF1 | Madison, IA | 1.3 | 75 | $10,000 | ||
| June 30 | 1:15 PM CDT | EF0 | Marshall, IA | 6.5 | 150 | $52,000 | ||
| June 30 | 1:15 PM CDT | EF1 | Madison, IA | 6.4 | 400 | $100,000 | ||
| June 30 | 1:27 PM CDT | EF1 | Warren, IA | 2.0 | 190 | $1,000 | ||
| June 30 | 2:02 PM CDT | EF2 | Tama, IA | 3.7 | 150 | $150,000 | ||
| June 30 | 2:27 PM CDT | EF1 | Benton, IA | 0.4 | 75 | |||
| June 30 | 4:40 PM CDT | EF0 | Nodaway, MO | 3.5 | 200 | |||
| June 30 | 5:20 PM MDT | EF0 | Baca, CO | 0.3 | 50 | |||
| June 30 | 6:43 PM CDT | EF1 | Worth, MO | 2.1 | 300 | |||
| June 30 | 7:53 PM CDT | EF0 | Harrison, MO | 3.0 | 200 | |||
| June 30 | 9:16 PM CDT | EF1 | LaSalle, IL | 1.5 | 50 | $250,000 | ||
| June 30 | 9:34 PM CDT | EF1 | Clay, MO | 0.8 | 200 | |||
| June 30 | 9:38 PM CDT | EF1 | Kendall, IL | 1.1 | 50 | $50,000 | ||
| June 30 | 9:44 PM CDT | EF0 | Grundy, IL | 2.2 | 50 | |||
| June 30 | 9:55 PM CDT | EF1 | Will, IL | 3.1 | 75 | $500,000 | ||
| June 30 | 10:22 PM CDT | EF1 | Kankakee, IL | 10.3 | 150 | $20,000 | ||
| June 30 | 10:23 PM CDT | EF0 | Kankakee, IL | 3.1 | 45 | $133,000 | ||
| June 30 | 10:24 PM CDT | EF1 | Kankakee, IL | 2.7 | 110 | $158,000 | ||
| June 30 | 10:25 PM CDT | EF1 | Kankakee, IL | 5.5 | 450 | $166,000 | ||
| June 30 | 10:26 PM CDT | EF1 | Kankakee, IL | 3.2 | 110 | $166,000 | ||
| June 30 | 10:29 PM CDT | EF1 | Kankakee, IL to IN | 15.8 | 175 | |||
| June 30 | 10:30 PM CDT | EF0 | Kankakee, IL | 4.4 | 295 | $8,000 | ||
| June 30 | 10:32 PM CDT | EF2 | Kankakee, IL | 3.9 | 240 | $500,000 | ||
| June 30 | 10:33 PM CDT | EF0 | Lake, IL to IN | 0.7 | 120 | |||
| June 30 | 10:33 PM CDT | EF1 | Lake, IL to IN | 8.7 | 415 | $256,000 | ||
| June 30 | 10:37 PM CDT | EF1 | Lake, IL to IN | 1.6 | 175 | |||
| June 30 | 10:38 PM CDT | EF1 | Lake, IN | 3.8 | 260 | $86,000 | ||
| June 30 | 10:39 PM CDT | EF1 | Lake, IN | 3.2 | 370 | |||
| June 30 | 10:42 PM CDT | EF1 | Lake, IN | 2.2 | 315 | $28,000 | ||
| June 30 | 10:42 PM CDT | EF1 | Newton, IN | 13.2 | 395 | $180,000 | ||
| June 30 | 10:44 PM CDT | EF2 | Lake, IN | 3.2 | 295 | $250,000 | ||
| June 30 | 10:46 PM CDT | EF1 | Lake, IN | 2.1 | 185 | $25,000 | ||
| June 30 | 10:56 PM CDT | EF1 | Jasper, IN | 1.9 | 100 | $10,000 | ||
| June 30 | 11:11 PM CDT | EF1 | LaPorte, IN | 0.3 | 200 | |||
| June 30 | 11:25 PM CDT | EF1 | Starke, IN | 4.9 | 400 | |||
| June 30 | 11:29 PM CDT | EF1 | Starke, IN | 4.8 | 400 | |||
| June 30 | 12:35 AM EDT | EF1 | Marshall, IN | 6.8 | 150 | |||
| June 30 | 12:41 AM EDT | EF1 | Marshall, IN | 0.2 | 50 | |||
| June 30 | 1:06 AM EDT | EF1 | Kosciusko, IN | 0.6 | 150 | |||
| June 30 | 1:06 AM EDT | EF0 | Kosciusko, IN | 1.8 | 50 | |||
| June 30 | 1:08 AM EDT | EF1 | Wabash, IN | 7.0 | 150 | |||
| June 30 | 1:22 AM EDT | EF1 | Whitley, IN | 0.5 | 50 | |||
| June 30 | 1:38 AM EDT | EF1 | LaGrange, IN | 0.9 | 50 |
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.