Tornadoes · United States · Indiana · 2021

EF0 tornado, Babcock to Woodville, Indiana, June 20, 2021

From Babcock to Woodville, this EF0 tornado ran 3.3 miles across Porter County on June 20, 2021, touching down at 12:11 AM CDT and reaching 150 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 20, 2021
Touchdown
12:11 AM CDT (05:11 UTC)
Lifted
12:16 AM CDT (05:16 UTC)
On the ground
5 minutes
Path length
3.3 miles (5.3 km)
Path width
150 yards (137 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Porter County
Touchdown point
41.562, -87.124
Lift-off point
41.572, -87.063
Record number
2106202311-01

The damage survey

19 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LOT, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 80 mph.

  • Report of a small outbuilding destroyed at the Robbinhurst GC.
  • All damage felled towards the east and northeast
  • Several houses exhibiting shingle loss. Sporadic tree damage.
  • Large tree uprooted just east of the Robbinhurst Driving Range

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 line of severe thunderstorms moved across northwest Indiana during the late evening of June 20th and the early morning of June 21st producing wind damage and one tornado.

A tornado with peak winds of 75 mph touched down just east of north State Road 149 and north of Robbins Road where a large tree was uprooted and several houses exhibited minor shingle loss. Sporadic tree damage occurred along the path of this tornado until it lifted east of Meridian Road and north of East County Road 950.

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

The warnings

11 minutes of warning. NWS LOT issued a tornado warning for this county at 05:00 UTC, 11 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 05:34 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 02:40 UTC and running to 07:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
02:40 UTC07:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchLOT
04:41 UTC06:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOT
05:00 UTC05:34 UTCTornado WarningLOT
05:06 UTC06:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOT
05:15 UTC05:35 UTCTornado WarningLOT
12:00 UTC08:20 UTCBeach Hazard StatementLOT

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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:25 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), 00:00Z

5.2 hours before the tornado, 202 km from the path. June 21, 2021.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2021-06-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1632 joules per kilogram, CIN -62, lifted condensation level 1351 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 00:00Z on 2021-06-21The 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 159 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 42 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
1632 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-62 J/kg
Surface CAPE
3360 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1351 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
159 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
421 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
13.7
0-3 km lapse rate
7.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Lincoln, IL (KILX), 12:00Z

6.8 hours after it, 202 km from the path. June 21, 2021.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2021-06-21Temperature 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 -84418, lifted condensation level 880 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 12:00Z on 2021-06-21The 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 -95 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 38 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
-84418 J/kg
Surface CAPE
12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
880 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-95 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
74 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 83 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:09 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
05:04 UTCTSTM WND DMGCedar LakeLake, INTWO TREES DOWNED ONTO HOUSES IN CEDAR LAKE. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
05:05 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 N HobartLake, INPUBLIC REPORT OF TREE DAMAGE IN HOBART. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
05:07 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Ne Lake StationPorter, INSEVERAL TREES UPROOTED. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
05:07 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Sse Lake StationPorter, INTREE DAMAGE IN CAMELOT ESTATES IN PORTAGE. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
05:08 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Sw PortagePorter, INNUMEROUS POWER LINES DOWNED IN PORTAGE. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
05:10 UTCTSTM WND DMGSouth HavenPorter, INDOWNED TREE CAUSED STRUCTURE DAMAGE ON EAGLE CREEK ROAD IN SOUTH HAVEN. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
05:11 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 N South HavenPorter, INCONSIDERABLE TREE DAMAGE DIRECTED IN AN EASTERLY DIRECTION ALONG LUTE ROAD, EAST TOWARDS THE ROBBINHURST GOLF CLUB. A SMALL OUTBUILDING WAS DAMAGED ON THE GOLF COURSE.
05:11 UTCTORNADO1 Nne South HavenPorter, INAN NWS SURVEY, ALONG WITH INFORMATION RELAYED BY THE PORTER COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, INDICATE A SWATH OF STRAIGHT-LINE WIND DAMAGE EXTENDING FROM HOBART TO THE ROBBINHURST GOLF CLUB JUST NORTH OF SOUTH HAVEN.
05:17 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Ese ChestertonPorter, INSPORADIC TREE DAMAGE NEAR AND NORTH OF THE INDIANA TOLL ROAD AND EAST OF STATE ROAD 49 SOUTHEAST OF CHESTERTON.
05:18 UTCTSTM WND DMGValparaisoPorter, INPUBLIC REPORT OF TREE DAMAGE IN VALPARAISO. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
05:33 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Se WaterfordLa Porte, INLARGE TREE BRANCHES DOWNED. DELAYED REPORT. ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
05:35 UTCTSTM WND DMGLa PorteLa Porte, INSEVERAL REPORTS OF TREES DOWNED ACROSS THE COUNTY.
05:44 UTCTSTM WND GST 473 Wsw WaterfordLa Porte, INMESONET STATION IN002 2.7 W WATERFORD (INDOT).
05:55 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Ese WalkertonMarshall, INDELAYED REPORT - WIDESPREAD TREE DAMAGE - TREE LINE WEST OF PROPERTY HAS BEEN FLATTENED WITH ALMOST ALL TREES UPROOTED AND SOME SNAPPED OFF.
05:55 UTCTSTM WND GST 393 Ssw La PorteLa Porte, INAWOS STATION KPPO LA PORTE.
05:59 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 S TeegardenMarshall, INSPOTTY TREE AND POWER LINE DAMAGE ACROSS NORTHERN MARSHALL COUNTY. US 6 IS CLOSED IN SPOTS WITH DEBRIS ON THE ROAD.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2021 tornado in IndianaEvery tornado in Indiana since 1950Warnings in force in Indiana nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 20, 2021

7 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 203:07 PM EDTEF0Chowan, NC3.075$25,000
June 206:40 PM CDTEF1Marion, IA1.5150$10,000
June 208:06 PM CDTEF1Dubuque, IA3.430
June 209:23 PM EDTEF1Lenawee, MI2.7125$250,000
June 2010:54 PM CDTEF0DuPage, IL0.475
June 2011:02 PM CDTEF3Naperville–Woodridge tornado, IL17.660011
June 2011:08 PM CDTEF0Will, IL4.8200

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.