Tornadoes · United States · Indiana · 2016

EF0 tornado, LaPorte County, Indiana, March 24, 2016

This EF0 tornado ran 0.5 miles across LaPorte County on March 24, 2016, touching down at 1:35 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
March 24, 2016
Touchdown
1:35 PM CDT (18:35 UTC)
Lifted
1:37 PM CDT (18:37 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
0.5 miles (0.8 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
LaPorte County
Touchdown point
41.436, -86.679
Lift-off point
41.433, -86.670
Record number
1603241235-01

The damage survey

9 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS IWX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 85 mph.

  • Several trees reported down across the road by Highway commission.
  • 3 trees uprooted to se with animal hut in between trees
  • 3 uprooted trees. first one likely fell onto them other 2
  • 100+ ft tall tree uprooted with 4 foot root ball. 8 huts gathered in general area

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

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 Marginal Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:30 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

6.6 hours before the tornado, 216 km from the path. March 24, 2016.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2016-03-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -54214, lifted condensation level 1182 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2016-03-24The 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 58 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 48 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-54214 J/kg
Surface CAPE
11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1182 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
58 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
131 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Lincoln, IL (KILX), 00:00Z

5.4 hours after it, 216 km from the path. March 25, 2016.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2016-03-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -112335, lifted condensation level 649 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2016-03-25The 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 -19 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 48 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-112335 J/kg
Surface CAPE
21 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
649 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-19 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-21 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 82 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 18:35 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
17:30 UTCTORNADO3 Ne HannaLa Porte, INTORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN AN OPEN FIELD EAST OF THE INTERSECTION OF STATE ROUTE 39 AND COUNTY ROAD 1150 SOUTH. THE TORNADO MOVED NORTHEAST CAUSING EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO A GROVE OF TREES AND SNAPPED 4 POWER POLES BEFORE LIFTI
18:26 UTCTORNADO3 Sse South WanatahLa Porte, INTORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN AN OPEN FIELD SOUTHWEST OF THE INTERSECTION OF COUNTY ROAD 1600 SOUTH AND 900 WEST MOVING EAST WHERE IT CAUSED SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO A 120FT BY 80FT POLE BARN WITH 80 PERCENT OF THE ROOF REMOVED A
18:30 UTCTORNADO3 Ne HannaLa Porte, INTORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN AN OPEN FIELD EAST OF THE INTERSECTION OF STATE ROUTE 39 AND COUNTY ROAD 1150 SOUTH. THE TORNADO MOVED NORTHEAST CAUSING EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO A GROVE OF TREES AND SNAPPED 4 POWER POLES BEFORE LIFTI
18:55 UTCNON-TSTM WND GST 442 Ese BremsStarke, INAWOS STATION 2 ESE BREMS /OXI/
19:04 UTCNON-TSTM WND GST 443 E Chain-O-LakesSt. Joseph, INASOS STATION SOUTH BEND INTERNATIONAL AP /SBN/
19:05 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Wnw Gulivoire ParkSt. Joseph, INMULTIPLE POWER POLES LEANING AND IN JEAPARDY OF FALLING ALONG MAYFLOWER ROAD BETWEEN SR 23 AND CLOYD STREET. ROOF BLOWN OFF A BUILDING ON WEST DUNHAM.
19:05 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Wnw Gulivoire ParkSt. Joseph, INMULTIPLE POWER POLES LEANING AND IN JEOPARDY OF FALLING ALONG MAYFLOWER ROAD BETWEEN SR 23 AND CLOYD STREET. ROOF BLOWN OFF A BUILDING ON WEST DUNHAM.
19:05 UTCTSTM WND DMGSouth BendSt. Joseph, INLOCATED IN LAUREL COURT OFF WEST AVENUE. LARGE TREE LIMBS/BRANCHES DOWN. SIZE OF BRANCHES WAS DENOTED AS 2 INCHES OR GREATER.
19:07 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 W South BendSt. Joseph, INSTOREFRONTS ALONG WESTERN AVENUE IN SOUTH BEND HAVE THEIR WINDOWS BLOWN OUT. POWER IS OUT, TREE LIMBS/POWER LINES DOWN.
19:07 UTCTSTM WND DMGSouth BendSt. Joseph, INFALLEN TREE LIMBS AND TREES ON THE 900 BLOCK OF NAPIER IN SOUTH BEND.
19:07 UTCTSTM WND DMGSouth BendSt. Joseph, INSIDING AND STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO A GARAGE/SHED.
19:10 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 S CrumstownSt. Joseph, INDOWNED TREE ON KLINE TRAIL NEAR CRUMSTOWN, IN. DIAMETER OF TREE WAS APPROX. 1-2 FT. DOWNED LIMBS APPROX. 6-1 FT DIAMETER.
19:10 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 N North LibertySt. Joseph, INDAMAGE TO A ROOF AND OTHER SMALL STRUCTURE ON LATH TRAIL.
19:10 UTCTSTM WND DMGSouth BendSt. Joseph, INTREE DOWN ON POWER LINES. POWER IS OUT. BLEACHERS BLOWN OVER.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2016 tornado in IndianaEvery tornado in Indiana since 1950Warnings in force in Indiana nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of March 24, 2016

5 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 241:26 PM CDTEF0LaPorte, IN0.150$75,000
March 241:30 PM CDTEF0LaPorte, IN0.9100
March 241:45 PM CDTEF1Calcasieu Parish, LA0.110$7,000
March 243:14 PM EDTEF0Cass, MI1.3150$100,000
March 242:30 PM CDTEF0Butler, AL0.450$8,000

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.