EF1 tornado, Hamlet to Koontz Lake Lake, Indiana, June 30, 2014

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

June 30, 2014

Touchdown

11:25 PM CDT (04:25 UTC)

Lifted

11:28 PM CDT (04:28 UTC)

On the ground

3 minutes

Path length

4.9 miles (7.9 km)

Path width

400 yards (366 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Starke County

Touchdown point

41.419, -86.641

Lift-off point

41.432, -86.547

Record number

1406302225-01

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.

A line of severe thunderstorms developed in eastern Iowa during the afternoon hours of June 30th. Plenty of instability and moisture was available for the line to mature into a severe bow-echo with the bulk of this racing northwest of the area into Wisconsin and Central Lower Michigan. The southern flank of this line did briefly take on bowing characteristics and produce gusty winds over southern Lake Michigan into portions of northwestern Indiana and far southwestern Lower Michigan before dissipating. Behind this line, a much stronger line of thunderstorms rapidly developed on a pre-frontal trough in northern Illinois. This line entered a more favorable environment with deep layer shear to 50 knots and a rapidly increasing low level jet to 50 knots. As this line raced into northwestern Indiana during the late evening hours, several stronger circulations were noted along the leading edge. There were multiple tornado confirmations and swaths of extensive wind damage. The second event continued into July 1st with additional wind damage and confirmed tornadoes occurring during the early morning hours.

A NWS storm survey confirmed damage consistent with a EF1 tornado touching down near the intersection of North County Road 300 East and East County Road 800 North. Extensive tree damage occurred along the track with several trees falling onto homes. A barn was destroyed near County Road 700 East and Robbins Road. Multiple center pivot irrigation systems were flipped. Maximum winds were estimated around 100 mph.

A NWS survey of damage confirmed a strong EF1 tornado traveled across mainly wooded areas of far northeastern Starke county. Touchdown occurred along County Road 800 east of County Road 850 East where several trees suffered limb damage. The tornado continued towards the northeast and slowly gained strength and reached peak intensity as it approached and crossed into Marshall county north of Koontz Lake. A quarter mile swath of healthy 18 to 24 inch diameter trees were snapped and uprooted (DI: TH DOD: 4). Maximum winds were estimated at around 110 mph. The total distance the tornado was on the ground across Starke and Marshall counties was 4.9 miles.

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

21 minutes of warning. NWS IWX issued a tornado warning for this county at 04:04 UTC, 21 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.

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 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 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.

Knox (OXI), 12 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 75 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:26 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 2014 tornado in IndianaEvery tornado in Indiana since 1950Warnings in force in Indiana nowThe forecast where you are

45 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.