Tornadoes · United States · Indiana · 2015

EF0 tornado, Demotte Arpt to Wheatfield, Indiana, June 7, 2015

From Demotte Arpt to Wheatfield, this EF0 tornado ran 0.3 miles across Jasper County on June 7, 2015, touching down at 4:28 PM CDT and reaching 50 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 mphthis tornado

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

    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
EF0
Date
June 7, 2015
Touchdown
4:28 PM CDT (21:28 UTC)
Lifted
4:29 PM CDT (21:29 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.3 miles (0.4 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Jasper County
Touchdown point
41.240, -87.220
Lift-off point
41.240, -87.215
Record number
1506071528-01

What the Weather Service recorded

After a morning complex of non-severe storms on June 7th, redeveloping storms in the early afternoon intensified just south of I-80 and slowly evolved southeastward through the night, producing heavy rainfall rates and at times severe straight-line winds. Widespread rainfall of one and a half to four inches, with isolated totals higher fell across areas south of I-80. This produced flooding and flash flooding. Scattered reports of roads closed during Sunday mid-afternoon through evening were received. There were a couple reports of water rescues and stranded vehicles. The highest rainfall reports were 4.95 inches near Kouts, IN and 4.07 inches near Hebron, IN, both from CoCoRaHS volunteer observers. There was video confirmation of two brief tornadoes in northern Jasper County, a few miles from the community of De Motte.

An EF-0 tornado briefly touched down northwest of De Motte and was captured on video by trained spotters. No damage occurred.

An EF-0 tornado was captured on video. There was no damage reported with this tornado.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 19:43 UTC and running to 01:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
19:43 UTC01:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchLOT
21:13 UTC22:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOT
21:35 UTC21:58 UTCTornado WarningLOT
21:57 UTC22:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOT
22:10 UTC23:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOT
22:18 UTC03:15 UTCFlash Flood WarningLOT
22:19 UTC23:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOT
23:01 UTC23:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOT
02:25 UTC09:25 UTCFlood AdvisoryLOT
03:14 UTC08:15 UTCFlash Flood WarningLOT
04:10 UTC15:00 UTCFlood AdvisoryLOT

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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:40 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

9.5 hours before the tornado, 168 km from the path. June 7, 2015.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2015-06-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 124 joules per kilogram, CIN -173, lifted condensation level 1036 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 2015-06-07The 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 256 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 29 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
124 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-173 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1036 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
256 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
263 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.3
0-3 km lapse rate
4.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Valparaiso (VPZ), 30 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
19:56 UTC7468190° 13 kt1008.8
20:56 UTC7469190° 6 kt1007.8-RA
21:19 UTC7270190° 6 kt1007.5+RA BR
21:48 UTC7270260° 8 kt1007.8+RA BR
21:56 UTC7270230° 25 kt351008.8+RA BR
22:04 UTC6767190° 12 kt391006.8+RA BR
22:12 UTC6766190° 12 kt1007.1RA BR
22:22 UTC6766200° 9 kt1007.5RA BR
22:36 UTC6867170° 10 kt1007.8RA BR
22:45 UTC6866180° 11 kt1007.8+RA BR
22:53 UTC66.264.4180° 6 kt1008.1RA BR
22:56 UTC6766190° 6 kt1008.5RA BR
23:03 UTC6765190° 7 kt1008.5-RA BR

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

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 83 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:28 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
20:50 UTCHEAVY RAIN 2.291 N Crown PointLake, INTOTAL SO FAR TODAY. 1.28 PAST 45 MINUTES.
21:04 UTCFLOODSt. JohnLake, INAT 93RD AND US-41. 6 INCHES STANDING WATER.
21:15 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD5 W KoutsPorter, IN75TH AND IN-8. STARTED DOWN THEN WENT BACK UP.
21:23 UTCFLOODCedar LakeLake, INUP TO 4 INCHES FLOWING ON LOW LYING ROADS.
21:25 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD2 N De MotteJasper, IN
21:28 UTCTORNADO3 Nnw De MotteJasper, INEF0 TORNADO CONFIRMED BY SPOTTER REPORTS...VIDEO AND RADAR DATA. PATH WIDTH 50 YARDS. PATH LENGTH 0.25 MILES. DURATION APPROXIMATELY 35 SECONDS. NO DAMAGE REPORTED.
21:28 UTCTORNADO3 Nnw De MotteJasper, INVIDEO OF TORNADO TAKEN FROM RT 231 AND STATE ROAD 2
21:35 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD3 S De MotteJasper, INON STATE RD 10.
21:37 UTCTORNADO4 Ne De MotteJasper, INEF0 TORNADO CONFIRMED BY SPOTTER REPORTS...VIDEO AND RADAR. PATH WIDTH 50 YARDS. PATH LENGTH 2.8 MILES. DURATION 4 TO 5 MINUTES. NO DAMAGE REPORTED.
21:39 UTCTORNADO5 Ne De MotteJasper, INVIDEO OF TORNADO...UNCLEAR IF SECOND TOUCHDOWN OR CONTIUNOUS PATH
21:50 UTCFLASH FLOODHebronPorter, INFLASH FLOODING WITH A VEHICLE RESCUE.
22:00 UTCFLASH FLOODCedar LakeLake, INPICKUP TRUCK HALF SUBMERGED IN WATER. REPORT VIA FACEBOOK.
22:05 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Ssw WanatahLa Porte, INREPORTS OF TREE AND 8 LIMB DOWN NEAR WANATAH. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
22:15 UTCFLASH FLOODValparaisoPorter, INNUMEROUS STREETS AND BRIDGES CLOSED DUE TO FLOODING
22:25 UTCTSTM WND DMGMoroccoNewton, INDELAYED REPORT. ROOF BLOWN OFF OF A HOUSE ON MERIDIAN RD. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
22:25 UTCHEAVY RAIN 3.94Cedar LakeLake, INSINCE 7 AM.
22:31 UTCTSTM WND DMGMedaryvillePulaski, INSEVERAL 8-12 INCH LIMBS DOWN.
22:31 UTCTORNADO2 S English LakeStarke, INA NWS STORM SURVEY CONFIRMED AN EF1 TORNADO WITH WINDS UP TO 95 MPH A PATH LENGTH AROUND 0.2 MILES AND A PATH WIDTH OF 100 YARDS.
22:32 UTCFLASH FLOOD2 E LowellLake, IN4-6 INCHES OF STANDING WATER UNDER AN OVERPASS ON US41.
22:35 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Ne ClarksPulaski, INREPORT OF TREES SNAPPED AND UPROOTED, NO ESTIMATES ON SIZE. ESTIMATED WIND SPEEDS TO 75 MPH.
22:48 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 S Bass LakeStarke, INREPORTS OF TREES SNAPPED OR UPROOTED, 12 INCHES IN DIAMETER. ESTIMATED WINDS TO 80 MPH.
22:50 UTCHEAVY RAIN 0.8PortagePorter, IN0.8 INCHES IN 35 MINUTES--STORM TOTAL OF 1.4 INCHES
22:57 UTCHEAVY RAIN 2.842 Nne Lakes of The FourPorter, IN
23:00 UTCFLOOD6 E LowellLake, ININ-2 WASHED OUT NEAR I-65. 5 TO 6 INCHES OF WATER ON ROAD. IND STATE POLICE ON-SITE.

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

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 June 7, 2015

8 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 71:11 AM CDTEF0Webster, IA0.760$1,000
June 71:15 AM CDTEF0Boone, IA2.840$15,000
June 71:18 AM CDTEF0Boone, IA1.430
June 71:41 AM CDTEF1Story, IA0.935$90,000
June 74:37 PM CDTEF0Jasper, IN2.850
June 75:31 PM CDTEF1Starke, IN0.3100
June 78:22 PM CDTEF0Menard, IL0.010$15,000
June 79:03 PM CDTEF0Piatt, IL2.725$85,000

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.