Tornadoes · United States · Indiana · 2015
EF0 tornado, Pueblo to Africa, Indiana, December 23, 2015
From Pueblo to Africa, this EF0 tornado ran 2.0 miles across Spencer County on December 23, 2015, touching down at 3:39 PM CST and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $3,000 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.
EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
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
- EF0
- Date
- December 23, 2015
- Touchdown
- 3:39 PM CST (21:39 UTC)
- Lifted
- 3:42 PM CST (21:42 UTC)
- On the ground
- 3 minutes
- Path length
- 2.0 miles (3.3 km)
- Path width
- 50 yards (46 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $3,000
- County
- Spencer County
- Touchdown point
- 37.806, -87.119
- Lift-off point
- 37.827, -87.094
- Record number
- 1512231539-01
The damage survey
4 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS PAH, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 75 mph.
- Several tree limbs down in multiple directions.
- Small tree broken at trunk and a few limbs broken.
Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.
What the Weather Service recorded
A fast-moving line of strong to severe storms swept east across southwest Indiana, accompanied by isolated wind damage. A second line of storms moved northeast from western Kentucky across Spencer County, producing an isolated weak tornado there. Conditions were favorable for severe storms. A negatively-tilted mid-level trough from the central high Plains to the Arklatex ejected northeast through the middle Mississippi Valley. At the surface, an area of low pressure over northeast Kansas moved to central Wisconsin. A trailing cold front surged eastward through the Mid-Mississippi and Lower Ohio Valleys. The storms were fed by a broadening and strengthening southwesterly low-level jet, which destabilized the atmosphere ahead of the storms. The presence of strong low-level and deep-layer wind shear enhanced the risk of wind damage and even a tornado.
This weak tornado crossed Indiana Highway 161 just a few miles across the Ohio River from Owensboro, Kentucky. The tornado tracked along West County Road 560S to West County Road 440S. Several tree tops were broken, and a 12-inch tree was snapped. Numerous small tree limbs were broken. Peak winds were estimated near 75 mph.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
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. The outlook in force was issued at 19:37 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.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Dec 23, 1:52 PM CST, 1 hour 47 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 23, 1:52 PM CST, 1 hour 47 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION National Weather Service Paducah KY 152 PM CST WED DEC 23 2015 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Friday night) Issued at 133 PM CST WED DEC 23 2015 Severe threat continues. Impressive wind fields aloft provide deep layer shear here...but mucape field/axis of greatest instability does shift eastward by 00Z Thu. Front/upper trof passage occurs shortly thereafter. Therefore, svr threat/bulk of pcpn will occur remainder of pm into early evening hours, with rain chance extending a few hours longer but storm/svr threat diminishing markedly after 7 or 8 pm. Will keep close monitor on going svr developments and may even clear some counties in the north/west by press time. After 1st period, deep swly flow aloft keeps warm advection pattern in place...so unseasonably warm temps continue. High pressure will provide a nice Christmas Eve forecast, but moves off to the northeast over the upper Ohio river valley by Christmas day, as warm sector return surge begins even late Thu night. This is where the models diverge...with the Euro and the blend returning in earnest whilest the new 12z GFS suggests a largely dry Christmas day. We'll split the diff as much as we can on the collab pic, with chance pops incoming Christmas day and spreading over the area more completely Christmas night. .LONG TERM...(Saturday through Wednesday) Issued at 133 PM CST WED DEC 23 2015 Despite high weekend pops, there may be a relative lull in overall pcpn action after we warm sector Saturday...at least until the boundary sags back over the FA during the course of the day Sunday as the primary upper Low and attendant surface Low start to make their ejection from TX toward MO. The system is winding/occluding itself as this occurs, so expect a very wet Sunday night into Monday in the high PW environ. There is some low level mucape to work with, so wouldnt rule out isold svr, but think primary threat will still be heavy rain/flooding until the system starts to fill itself/lift out later Monday night-Tuesday. Impressive cumulative storm total qpf of 3 to 6 inches is possible by then. It takes until Tuesday and beyond for significant height falls/upper pattern shift to occur to support cooler temps. Expect generally 60s/50s to prevail both daytime/nighttime til then, after which, we'll transition to 40s/30s. && .AVIATION... Issued at 133 PM CST WED DEC 23 2015 Convection this pm means IFR to LIFR cigs/vsbys for KEVV/KOWB. It's possible KCGI/KPAH could experience another storm with similar restrictions. Severe weather with high wind gusts are possible until about 00Z-02Z. After that, we look to see continued restricted cigs/vsbys with rain for a few hours, with gradually improving conditions late tonight-tmrw morning in the wake of the system's passage. && .PAH Watches/Warnings/Advisories... IL...NONE. MO...NONE. IN...NONE. KY...NONE. &&
Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 23, 3:07 PM CST, 32 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 307 PM CST WED DEC 23 2015 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-241100- JEFFERSON-WAYNE IL-EDWARDS-WABASH-PERRY IL-FRANKLIN-HAMILTON- WHITE-JACKSON-WILLIAMSON-SALINE-GALLATIN-UNION IL-JOHNSON-POPE- HARDIN-ALEXANDER-PULASKI-MASSAC-GIBSON-PIKE-POSEY-VANDERBURGH- WARRICK-SPENCER-FULTON-HICKMAN-CARLISLE-BALLARD-MCCRACKEN-GRAVES- LIVINGSTON-MARSHALL-CALLOWAY-CRITTENDEN-LYON-TRIGG-CALDWELL- UNION KY-WEBSTER-HOPKINS-CHRISTIAN-HENDERSON-DAVIESS-MCLEAN- MUHLENBERG-TODD-PERRY MO-BOLLINGER-CAPE GIRARDEAU-WAYNE MO-CARTER- RIPLEY-BUTLER-STODDARD-SCOTT-MISSISSIPPI-NEW MADRID- 307 PM CST WED DEC 23 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE AS A LINE...NOW EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER...CONTINUES TO MOVE EAST ACROSS SOUTHERN ILLINOIS AND WESTERN KENTUCKY. TORNADOES AND DAMAGING WIND ARE THE PRIMARY HAZARDS WITH TORNADO WATCHES STILL IN EFFECT FOR THE EASTERN HALF OF THE AREA THROUGH EARLY THIS EVENING. REFER TO THE WATCHES FOR DETAILS. IN ADDITION TO SEVERE WEATHER...LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN WILL FLOOD LOW LYING AND FLOOD PRONE AREAS. GUSTY NON THUNDERSTORM WINDS WILL ALSO BE A PREVAILING HAZARD. MINOR FLOODING IS CURRENTLY FORECAST TO CONTINUE ALONG PORTIONS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. PLEASE REFER TO FLOOD WARNINGS AND STATEMENTS AS THEY ARE ISSUED FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST OFF AND ON FROM FRIDAY THROUGH NEXT MONDAY. THE PRIMARY WEATHER HAZARD DURING THIS TIME PERIOD WILL BE LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN, CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LOCALIZED FLOODING OF POORLY DRAINED AND LOW-LYING AREAS. SOME STORMS MAY REACH SEVERE LIMITS NEXT MONDAY. MINOR FLOODING IS CURRENTLY FORECAST TO CONTINUE ALONG PORTIONS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. PLEASE REFER TO FLOOD WARNINGS AND STATEMENTS AS THEY ARE ISSUED FOR DETAILS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... CONTINUED SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS APPRECIATED FOR THE ONGOING SEVERE WEATHER AND EXCESSIVE RAINFALL.
In the hours before
Local storm report, Dec 23, 3:26 PM CST, 13 minutes before
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</html>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.
Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), 12:00Z
9.7 hours before the tornado, 193 km from the path. December 23, 2015.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -66 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 17 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 596 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 194 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 164 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.3 K/km
Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), 00:00Z
2.3 hours after it, 193 km from the path. December 24, 2015.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 26 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -82 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 19 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 624 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 89 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 598 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 698 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.7
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.7 K/km
The surface observations
Owensboro/Daviess (OWB), 10 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 UTC |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Evansville,IN radar (KVWX), 73 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:41 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.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2015 tornado in IndianaEvery tornado in Indiana since 1950Warnings in force in Indiana nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of December 23, 2015
30 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 23 | 3:27 AM EST | EF0 | Berkeley, SC | 0.2 | 100 | $18,000 | ||
| December 23 | 8:21 AM CST | EF1 | Van Buren, AR | 0.2 | 75 | $80,000 | ||
| December 23 | 9:43 AM CST | EF1 | Carter, MO | 6.0 | 100 | $90,000 | ||
| December 23 | 9:56 AM CST | EF1 | Wayne, MO | 3.0 | 50 | $5,000 | ||
| December 23 | 10:08 AM CST | EF1 | Wayne, MO | 3.0 | 75 | $50,000 | ||
| December 23 | 11:15 AM CST | EF0 | Jackson, IL | 6.0 | 50 | $5,000 | ||
| December 23 | 11:23 AM CST | EF1 | Perry, IL | 5.0 | 200 | $175,000 | ||
| December 23 | 12:30 PM CST | EF1 | Edwards, IL | 4.3 | 100 | $13,000 | ||
| December 23 | 12:32 PM CST | EF1 | White, IL | 1.6 | 100 | $75,000 | ||
| December 23 | 3:42 PM EST | EF1 | Johnson, IN | 0.3 | 40 | $25,000 | ||
| December 23 | 2:54 PM CST | EF3 | Coahoma, MS | 61.6 | 800 | 2 | 28 | $2.4 million |
| December 23 | 3:55 PM EST | EF1 | Hamilton, IN | 0.7 | 140 | $50,000 | ||
| December 23 | 2:57 PM CST | EF2 | Lee, AR | 4.7 | 100 | $100,000 | ||
| December 23 | 4:13 PM EST | EF1 | Decatur, IN | 0.8 | 50 | $25,000 | ||
| December 23 | 4:55 PM EST | EF0 | Wayne, IN | 3.3 | 30 | $150,000 | ||
| December 23 | 4:10 PM CST | EF4 | Holly Springs–Ashland tornado, Mississippi and Tennessee | 75.1 | 1,300 | 9 | 36 | $11 million |
| December 23 | 5:12 PM EST | EF0 | Darke, OH | 0.0 | 20 | $6,000 | ||
| December 23 | 4:15 PM CST | EF1 | McDonough, IL | 10.7 | 50 | |||
| December 23 | 4:33 PM CST | EF0 | Mercer, IL | 10.6 | 50 | |||
| December 23 | 4:34 PM CST | EF1 | Linn, IA | 2.3 | 50 | |||
| December 23 | 4:43 PM CST | EF1 | Madison, TN | 1.2 | 50 | $25,000 | ||
| December 23 | 5:38 PM CST | EF1 | Dubuque, IA | 1.1 | 25 | |||
| December 23 | 6:43 PM EST | EF1 | Wayne, MI | 2.0 | 100 | $500,000 | ||
| December 23 | 6:16 PM CST | EF1 | Prentiss, MS | 3.9 | 80 | $100,000 | ||
| December 23 | 6:17 PM CST | EF2 | Perry, TN | 14.9 | 500 | 2 | $1.0 million | |
| December 23 | 6:55 PM CST | EF3 | Wayne, TN | 48.4 | 800 | 7 | $4.1 million | |
| December 23 | 7:00 PM CST | EF2 | Lauderdale, AL to TN | 14.9 | 400 | 1 | $100,000 | |
| December 23 | 8:11 PM EST | EF1 | Pendleton, KY | 3.8 | 420 | 3 | $120,000 | |
| December 23 | 10:14 PM CST | EF2 | DeKalb, TN | 8.4 | 250 | $400,000 | ||
| December 23 | 11:25 PM EST | EF0 | Wood, WV | 0.2 | 25 | $100,000 |
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.