Tornadoes · United States · Indiana · 2020

EF0 tornado, Burket, Indiana, August 10, 2020

This EF0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Kosciusko County on August 10, 2020, touching down at 7:43 PM EDT 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
August 10, 2020
Touchdown
7:43 PM EDT (23:43 UTC)
Lifted
7:44 PM EDT (23:44 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.2 miles (0.4 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Kosciusko County
Touchdown point
41.139, -85.967
Lift-off point
41.140, -85.963
Record number
2008101743-01

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 EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 75 mph.

  • Several large tree limbs, up to 2 feet in diameter were snapped, some carried across the road.

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

Convectively enhanced vorticity max lead to initiation of storms overnight Sunday across southern South Dakota. These initial storms grew upscale given concurrent downstream destabilization through northeast Nebraska and northwest Iowa. Widespread 80-100 mph winds developed through central/eastern Iowa as this derecho matured. Northern bookend and advection wing forcing led to some supercell structures across northern Illinois/southwest Wisconsin. Northern bookend turned northeast as it moved across Lake Michigan and tracked into western Michigan. As this occurred, attendant post convective wake low weakened as it crossed the lake. Thus the local area did not experience the 80 to 100 mph winds that N IL/E IA experienced. However the resultant slowing and breakup of the line as it moved across northwest Indiana/SW Michigan, yielded a LEWP and subsequent multiple small scale circulations developing along the line. These meso-vortices were associated with pockets of enhanced wind damage and brief tornado occurrences.

A tornado touched down just west of the intersection of South County Road 700 North and South Beaver Dam Road, causing damage to trees to properties on either side of that intersection, with debris left on the roadway. A local fire chief witnessed the tornado lift over two structures and a grain bin with no noted damage. The tornado then touched down just east of the intersection in a mature corn field where it flattened a 100 to 150 foot circle in the corn, lifted briefly and then touched down again, causing the same type of damage before lifting again. The funnel attempted to touch down a third time but dissipated near a row of trees. Debris was still visible in the air. Maximum winds were estimated at 80 mph.

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.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:28 UTC23:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchIWX
22:24 UTC23:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWX
22:38 UTC23:00 UTCTornado WarningIWX
22:41 UTC23:00 UTCTornado WarningIWX
22:48 UTC23:20 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWX

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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:38 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

11.7 hours before the tornado, 248 km from the path. August 10, 2020.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2020-08-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1597 joules per kilogram, CIN -128, lifted condensation level 1046 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 2020-08-10The 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 167 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 21 knots.193958Sfc1 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
1597 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-128 J/kg
Surface CAPE
962 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1046 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
167 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
241 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.6
0-3 km lapse rate
3.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Lincoln, IL (KILX), 00:00Z

0.3 hours after it, 248 km from the path. August 11, 2020.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2020-08-11Temperature 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 -75157, lifted condensation level 1523 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 2020-08-11The 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 -307 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 33 knots.193958Sfc1 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
-75157 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1523 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-307 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-226 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 33 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:45 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
22:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 N BourbonMarshall, INTREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ALONG WITH PEA SIZED HAIL.
22:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGPlymouthMarshall, INTREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ACROSS PLYMOUTH AREA. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
22:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGRochesterFulton, INREPORTS OF TREES DOWN.
22:36 UTCTSTM WND DMGOsceolaSt. Joseph, INTREES DOWN.
22:40 UTCTSTM WND DMGMentoneKosciusko, INDELAYED REPORT OF SEVERAL LARGE TREES DOWN IN MENTONE VICINITY INCLUDING A LARGE TREE FALLING ON TOP OF A HOUSE.
22:40 UTCTORNADO3 Sw WakarusaElkhart, INNWS SURVEY CONFIRMED AN EF1 TORNADO ON AUGUST 11TH 2020.
22:40 UTCTORNADO3 Sw WakarusaElkhart, INPHOTOS ON TWITTER SUGGEST POSSIBLE TORNADO DAMAGE. TEAM TO SURVEY ON TUESDAY.
22:44 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 N NappaneeElkhart, INSEVERAL LARGE TREES DOWN IN NAPPANEE. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
22:45 UTCTSTM WND DMGMonoquetKosciusko, INNEIGHBORHOOD OF NORTHWEST WOODS HAD THREE TREES DOWNED, AROUND 1 TO 2 FT IN DIAMETER. APPEARED REASONABLY HEALTHY. NUMEROUS SMALL TO MEDIUM SIZED LIMBS DOWN, RANGING FROM 3 TO 8 INCHES IN DIAMETER. ESTIMATED THUNDERSTORM
22:48 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 N PeruMiami, INLARGE TREES DOWN IN PERU. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
22:50 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 N OswegoKosciusko, INLARGE TREE DOWN ON THE ROAD. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
22:50 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Ssw LeesburgKosciusko, INLARGE TREE BRANCH WAS DOWN ACROSS SR 15. TREE SHOWS SOME ROT.
22:54 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Nnw Winona LakeKosciusko, INA NUMBER OF LARGE TREE BRANCHES DOWN. BRANCHES LOOK HEALTHY IN TWITTER PICTURE.
22:54 UTCTSTM WND DMGLeesburgKosciusko, INMULTIPLE LARGE TREE LIMBS DOWN IN LEESBURG. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
22:55 UTCTSTM WND DMGNorth ManchesterWabash, INLARGE TREE LIMBS DOWN IN NORTH MANCHESTER. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
22:56 UTCTORNADO2 Ne North WebsterKosciusko, INNWS STORM SURVEY CONCLUDED EF-1 TORNADO OCCURRED. TORNADO TRACKED SOUTHEAST TO 1 MILE EAST OF NORTH WEBSTER BEFORE DISSIPATING. TREES WERE SNAPPED WEST OF STATE ROAD 13. A CHURCH SUSTAINED A LOSS OF ROOF COVERING. SOME H
22:57 UTCTSTM WND DMGJames LakeKosciusko, INLARGE TREE DOWN.
22:58 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 N North WebsterKosciusko, INWIDESPREAD TREE DAMAGE AS WELL AS SOME STRUCTURE DAMAGE FROM FALLING TREES IN THE EPWORTH FOREST AREA.
23:05 UTCTSTM WND DMGCromwellNoble, IN
23:05 UTCTSTM WND DMGSouth WhitleyWhitley, INREPORTS OF TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
23:07 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 N North WebsterKosciusko, INPOWER LINES DOWN ON NORTH SIDE OF NORTH WEBSTER.
23:14 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Ene GoblesvilleHuntington, INEMPTY GRAIN BIN TOPPLED. PHOTO ON TWITTER.
23:14 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Se GoblesvilleHuntington, INHEALTHY TREE SNAPPED AT THE BASE. PHOTO ON TWITTER.
23:16 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Ene HuntingtonHuntington, INLARGE PORTION OF A TREE DOWN. PICTURE ON TWITTER.
23:16 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Wnw MahonHuntington, IN25 FOOT TALL TREE DOWN ACROSS A FENCE. TRUNK SNAPPED 2 OR 3 FEET FROM THE GROUND. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
23:16 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Wnw RoanokeHuntington, INCORN KNOCKED DOWN IN A FIELD.
23:17 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 E AlbionNoble, INLARGE TREE DOWN.
23:19 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Wnw RoanokeHuntington, INMETAL ROOF PARTIALLY TAKEN OFF OF A BUILDING. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
23:19 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 N RoanokeHuntington, INLARGE TREES DOWN ON A PROPERTY. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
23:20 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Sse LaudWhitley, INTREE DOWNED ONTO A HOUSE WITH NOTABLE DAMAGE TO THE HOUSE. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
23:20 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Wnw MarkleHuntington, INSEVERAL TREES DOWN BLOCKING ROAD NEAR 900N AND 300E. DAMAGE ALSO TO A HOUSE. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
23:21 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Ene Blue LakeWhitley, INPOWER POLES DOWNED. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
23:23 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Ne Blue LakeWhitley, INTREE DOWNED ONTO A HOUSE. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
23:23 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Wnw RoanokeHuntington, INNEW BARN UNDER CONSTRUCTION SUSTAINED SIGNIFICANT ROOF AND WALL DAMAGE. PHOTOS ON TWITTER.
23:23 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 W RoanokeHuntington, INNUMEROUS LARGE TREE BRANCHES DOWN ONTO A HOUSE.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2020 tornado in IndianaEvery tornado in Indiana since 1950Warnings in force in Indiana nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of August 10, 2020

26 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 1011:30 AM CDTUnratedMarshall, IA1.050
August 1011:36 AM CDTUnratedMarshall, IA0.450
August 1011:39 AM CDTEF1Marshall, IA2.9100$20,000
August 1012:01 PM CDTUnratedTama, IA1.540
August 1012:31 PM CDTUnratedLinn, IA0.940
August 1012:32 PM CDTEF0Grant, WI0.650$15,000
August 102:12 PM CDTEF0Stephenson, IL4.650
August 102:37 PM CDTEF0Winnebago, IL1.650
August 102:47 PM CDTEF1Winnebago, IL9.2300
August 102:50 PM CDTEF0DeKalb, IL6.340
August 102:59 PM CDTEF1LaSalle, IL0.9150
August 103:05 PM CDTEF1McHenry, IL5.7200
August 103:12 PM CDTEF1Kane, IL1.240
August 103:15 PM CDTEF1Kendall, IL14.4250
August 103:35 PM CDTEF1DuPage, IL0.4100
August 103:38 PM CDTEF0Walworth, WI3.350$12,000
August 103:39 PM CDTEF1DuPage, IL2.1200
August 103:41 PM CDTEF1Lake, IL to WI6.3150$250,000
August 103:54 PM CDTEF1Cook, IL4.8300
August 103:57 PM CDTEF0Cook, IL2.0350
August 103:59 PM CDTEF1Cook, IL3.2300
August 104:04 PM CDTEF0Kankakee, IL1.5150
August 105:05 PM EDTEF1Washington, NY1.5100$75,000
August 104:15 PM CDTEF0Newton, IN0.940
August 106:32 PM EDTEF1Saint Joseph, IN2.4100
August 106:55 PM EDTEF1Kosciusko, IN3.1100

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.