Tornadoes · United States · Indiana · 2025

EF2 tornado, Dongola to Farlen, Indiana, March 15, 2025

Name: EF2 tornado, Dongola to Farlen, Indiana, March 15, 2025
Start: 2025-03-15T07:53:00.000Z
End: 2025-03-15T08:44:00.000Z
Location: Dongola to Farlen, Indiana

From Dongola to Farlen, this EF2 tornado ran 57.5 miles across Gibson, Pike and Daviess counties on March 15, 2025, touching down at 2:53 AM CDT and reaching 400 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $4.3 million 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 mph
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 mphthis tornado
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: EF2
Date: March 15, 2025
Touchdown: 2:53 AM CDT (07:53 UTC)
Lifted: 3:44 AM CDT (08:44 UTC)
On the ground: 51 minutes
Path length: 57.5 miles (92.5 km)
Path width: 400 yards (366 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $4.3 million
Counties: Gibson, Pike and Daviess counties
Touchdown point: 38.210, -87.548
Lift-off point: 38.773, -86.772
Record number: 2503150153-01

The damage survey

85 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS IND and NWS PAH, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 120 mph.

Several trees uprooted to west and southwest.
Tree snapped in front yard of house on County Road 225 E.
tree on house, roof penetrated.
Grain silos empty. Semi cab damaged from empty silo rolling over. Likely was lifted.

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 significant severe weather episode unfolded across southwest Indiana in the early morning hours of the 15th, as a line of severe storms produced a tornado, damaging winds, and large hail. A strong negative-tilt 500mb trough moved northeast from Kansas to the Upper Midwest through the day and into the evening on the 14th. The associated 978mb surface low followed a similar track, and led to a rapid increase in low-level moisture just ahead of a trailing dry line that moved eastward across southwest Indiana on the morning of the 15th. The moisture return was sufficient for 1000-2000J/kg of CAPE to develop. Wind fields were extremely strong, with storm relative helicity in the 0-1km layer of 300m2/s2 and above, and 600m2/s2 in the 0-3km layer. The significant tornado parameter was over 6 which supported strong and long-track tornadoes. In addition, steep mid-level lapse rates around 8C/km supported very large hail. One EF-2 tornado developed near Haubstadt and moved northeast through Oakland City and on through northern Pike County and then into Daviess County. Oakland City took the brunt of the damage as a church and a few homes suffered roof damage and a mobile home was severely damaged. Otherwise, the tornado impacted trees, power poles, and farm buildings all along its path. In addition, 60-70 mph straight line winds were reported to the north and east of Evansville, and large hail was reported in several locations. The largest hail was up to golf ball size in Princeton.

A potent low pressure system generated a line of strong to severe thunderstorms that moved across central Indiana. Storms ahead of the line also become severe. Widespread wind damage along with a few tornadoes occurred. Tens of thousands of people were without power.

An EF-2 tornado developed just northeast of Haubstadt in Gibson County and moved northeast through Oakland City and into Pike County. It continued northeast through mostly rural areas, damaging trees, power poles and outbuildings, and eventually crossed the White River into Daviess County just east of County Road 257. The most significant damage occurred along County Road 356 east of Algiers, where several metal truss high transmission towers were crumpled. The estimated peak wind was 120 mph. The total length of the tornado was just shy of 58 miles.

An EF-2 tornado began just northeast of the Tri State Speedway near Haubstadt. Damage to outbuildings and power poles occurred, along with many trees that were uprooted as it moved northeast crossing Highway 168 and did substantial damage to farm buildings and silos on County Road 550. It eventually crossed Interstate 69 and did roof damage to a church and canopy damage to a Gas Station to the southwest of Oakland City. Several trees were uprooted through town and one mobile home was severely damaged. The tornado continued northeast across the Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge and through Pike County. The tornado continued into Daviess county Indiana and had a total length of just shy of 58 miles. The estimated peak wind was 117 mph.

The tornado had peaked at EF2 intensity when first tracking through Gibson County and Pike County in far southwestern Indiana, before crossing the East Fork White River and continuing roughly the last half of its overall track within Daviess County and Martin County. The tornado skipped northeast through these two counties, ending south-southwest of the Indian Springs community. The most significant damage was to a farm at County Road 100 South and County Road 1025 East in Daviess County, which sustained damage consistent with winds around 100 mph. Several metal farm outbuildings were damaged, a piece of a wooden 2-by-4 beam was thrown southeast and driven through the windshield of a semi truck, and two large grain bins were completely destroyed when torn apart, with their debris thrown at least a mile northeast.||Other portions of the tornado's path displayed mainly snapped and uprooted trees, and minor superficial home damage to roofs and siding. Widespread straight line wind damage also occurred to the west and east of the tornado's circulation from thunderstorm outflow winds and the forward flank downdraft to the east of tornado path. This straight line damage continued through Loogootee. The tornado continued further into central Martin County, producing sporadic damage in rural areas northeast of Loogootee, before doing more significant damage to two farmsteads near Killion Mill Road and additional damage near Wadsworth Lane. Maximum winds were estimated at 110 mph for this Daviess-Martin County segment of the tornado's track.

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

The warnings

33 minutes of warning. NWS PAH issued a tornado warning for this county at 07:20 UTC, 33 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 08:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 00:39 UTC and running to 11:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)	Expired	Product	Office
18:00 UTC	09:00 UTC	Wind Advisory	PAH
00:39 UTC	11:00 UTC	Tornado Watch	PAH
07:20 UTC	08:00 UTC	Tornado Warning	PAH
07:45 UTC	08:30 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH
07:47 UTC	08:30 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH
07:58 UTC	08:30 UTC	Tornado Warning	PAH
08:04 UTC	08:18 UTC	Tornado Warning	PAH

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 05:34 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

7.9 hours before the tornado, 222 km from the path. March 15, 2025.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

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: 99 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -343 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 393 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2530 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 55 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 222 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 360 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1
0-3 km lapse rate: 7.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Lincoln, IL (KILX), 12:00Z

4.1 hours after it, 222 km from the path. March 15, 2025.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

Mixed-layer CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -96333 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1836 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 79 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 373 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 420 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

The surface observations

Daviess City (DCY), 23 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
05:55 UTC	69.8	53.8	170° 23 kt	31	995.9
06:15 UTC	70	54	170° 21 kt	33	996.3
06:35 UTC	69.8	54	180° 20 kt	29	996.6
06:55 UTC	69.3	54.3	180° 18 kt	29	996.6	TS
07:15 UTC	69	54.5	180° 18 kt	28	997
07:35 UTC	68	55.8	180° 18 kt	22	996.6	TSRA
07:55 UTC	65.7	57.2	190° 13 kt	17	997.3	TSRA
08:15 UTC			240° 5 kt		997	+VCTSRA
08:35 UTC	62	59	220° 23 kt	33	999.7	+TSRA
08:55 UTC	59	53.6	190° 17 kt	25	998	VCTSRA
09:15 UTC	58	54	180° 16 kt	19	998	-TSRA
09:35 UTC	58.6	55	150° 18 kt		995.9	-TSRA

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

The radar

The Evansville,IN radar (KVWX), 56 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 07:53 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)	Report	Where	County	Remark
07:30 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Carlisle	Sullivan, IN	Multiple tree limbs snapped. Relayed via social media.
07:39 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Bicknell	Knox, IN	Late report of thunderstorm winds downed an old communication tower onto a cable line to a utility pole at 108 North Cleveland Street. These winds also downed a communication line down over New Jersey Street. Time estima
07:41 UTC	HAIL 1	1 S Poseyville	Posey, IN	Report from mPING of Quarter (1.00 in.) hail.
07:45 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	4 Nnw Darmstadt	Vanderburgh, IN	Roof blown off building along Owensville Road.
07:45 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	4 Nnw Darmstadt	Vanderburgh, IN	Roof blown off of a building along Owensville Road.
07:53 UTC	TORNADO	1 Ene Haubstadt	Gibson, IN	An EF-2 tornado began just east-northeast of the Tristate Speedway near Haubstadt. Some damage to outbuildings and power poles occurred, along with many trees that were uprooted as it moved northeast crossing Highway 168
07:56 UTC	HAIL 1.75	Princeton	Gibson, IN
08:05 UTC	TORNADO	Oakland City	Gibson, IN	Screen shot of security camera footage of a tornado in Oakland City.
08:05 UTC	TORNADO	Oakland City	Gibson, IN	Security camera footage showed a tornado in Oakland City. Damage reported around the city.
08:05 UTC	TORNADO	Oakland City	Gibson, IN	Tornado captured on security camera footage in Oakland City.
08:15 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Freedom	Owen, IN	Tree snapped.
08:19 UTC	TORNADO	3 W Glendale Fishery	Daviess, IN	EF-1 tornado with max wind of 110 MPH, max width of 400 yards, and path length in central Indiana of 13.63 miles. This tornado crossed the East Fork White River into southern Daviess County and skipped northeast. Signifi
08:20 UTC	TSTM WND GST 67	Newburgh	Warrick, IN
08:22 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Duff	Dubois, IN	Several trees blocking the roadway. Time estimated from radar.
08:25 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 Sw Huntingburg	Dubois, IN	Viewer photo of woodshed thrown onto a car. Somewhere between Holland and Huntingburg. Time estimated from radar.
08:26 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	1 Nw Jasper	Dubois, IN	Tree down blocking Schuetter Rd area in Jasper. Time estimated from radar.
08:27 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 Nne Huntingburg	Dubois, IN	Tree blocking one lane of traffic 400 south by North Cherry. Time estimated from radar.
08:27 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 W Jasper	Dubois, IN	Several trees and power lines down between Jasper and Ireland.
08:28 UTC	TSTM WND GST 60	1 S Portersville	Dubois, IN	Trained spotter reports 60 mph wind gust in Portersville.
08:29 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 Ene Jasper	Dubois, IN	Two trees blocking both lanes. Time estimated from radar.
08:30 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 Nne Maltersville	Dubois, IN	Garage roof fell off and into the roadway on Greener Rd. Time estimated off radar.
08:30 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 Se Haysville	Dubois, IN	Broken power line post and lines partially in one lane of traffic. Time estimated from radar.
08:33 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 W Celestine	Dubois, IN	Trees and power lines down south of St Rd 164 on 500E. Time estimated from radar.
08:33 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	3 Ene Maltersville	Dubois, IN	Power line down on Schnellville Rd. Time estimated from radar.
08:35 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Loogootee	Martin, IN	Trees and power lines downed. Old masonry building leaning towards US231. Possible tornado damage near and west of town.
08:35 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	1 Ese Saint Anthony	Dubois, IN	Tree down. Time estimated from radar.
08:36 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 Ssw Cuzco	Dubois, IN	Large tree reported down somewhere on Dubois Cuzco Rd, blocking roadway. Estimated location and time.
08:37 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Celestine	Dubois, IN	Power was out in the Celestine area.
08:45 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Prospect	Orange, IN	Tree down blocking Hwy 150 near 725W. Time estimated from radar.
08:45 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	West Baden Springs	Orange, IN	Trees snapped in half and blocking Bedford St. Time estimated from radar.
08:45 UTC	TORNADO	West Baden Springs	Orange, IN	An EF-1 tornado with peak winds of 110 mph touched down in West Baden Springs, IN early in the morning on March 15, traveled 11 miles NE and lifted in Orleans, IN approximately 8 minutes later. Along its path, the tornad
08:50 UTC	TORNADO	1 E Silverville	Lawrence, IN	Tornado damage at 1750 ST Rd 158; Trees uprooted and Snapped. Truck Damage. Abundance of trees down 100-200 yards west of Indian Creek Rd. Time estimated from Radar.
08:50 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	3 E Orangeville	Orange, IN	Power poles down CR 500 N near 200 W. Time estimated from radar.
08:51 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 Sw Orleans	Orange, IN	Trees down CR 100 W near 600 N. Time estimated from radar.
08:52 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	3 N Paoli	Orange, IN	Whole side of garage removed. Time estimated from radar.
08:53 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Orleans	Orange, IN	Roof damage corner of 2nd St and W Vincennes. Also report of damage on S 4th St, pole barn damaged.
08:53 UTC	TORNADO	Orleans	Orange, IN	Corrects previous tornado report from Orleans. This is the end point of the West Baden to Orleans, IN EF-1 tornado.
08:57 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	3 Ene Ferdinand	Dubois, IN	Tree blocking one lane near State Road 264 and 500E. Time estimated from radar.
08:57 UTC	HAIL 0.88	2 Nw Bristow	Perry, IN	21400 block of Oak Ridge Rd.
08:58 UTC	TORNADO	4 E Silverville	Lawrence, IN	EF-0 tornado with peak winds of 75 mph, path of 2.25 miles, and max width of 50 yards. Tornado mainly damaged trees but did destroy an old shed.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2025 tornado in Indiana Every tornado in Indiana since 1950 Warnings in force in Indiana now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of March 15, 2025

49 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 15	1:03 AM CDT	EF1	New Madrid, MO	4.5	50			$900,000
March 15	1:12 AM CDT	EF1	Lake, IN	0.9	200
March 15	2:14 AM EDT	EF1	Parke, IN	2.7	75			$350,000
March 15	1:15 AM CDT	EF2	Johnson, IL	15.6	150			$1.0 million
March 15	1:19 AM CDT	EF0	Lake, IN	4.9	200
March 15	1:25 AM CDT	EF1	Calhoun, MS	8.2	300			$110,000
March 15	4:45 AM EDT	EF1	Orange, IN	11.0	50
March 15	4:53 AM EDT	EF0	Lawrence, IN	6.2	100			$120,000
March 15	5:01 AM EDT	EF0	Lawrence, IN	1.0	25			$70,000
March 15	5:14 AM EDT	EF1	Jackson, IN	2.2	50			$25,000
March 15	7:56 AM CDT	EF0	Hardeman, TN	2.7	50			$10,000
March 15	10:22 AM CDT	EF2	Issaquena, MS	19.5	1,600
March 15	12:17 PM CDT	EF4	Tylertown tornado, Louisiana and Mississippi	67.2	1,400	6	6	$5.5 million
March 15	12:27 PM CDT	EF1	Chickasaw, MS	3.0	150			$25,000
March 15	12:47 PM CDT	EF0	Simpson, MS	0.4	100
March 15	1:16 PM CDT	EF0	Monroe, MS	2.0	50			$10,000
March 15	1:24 PM CDT	EF3	Walthall, MS	26.1	880	1	2	$5.0 million
March 15	1:32 PM CDT	EF0	Newton, MS	3.5	75
March 15	1:41 PM CDT	EF1	Newton, MS	6.7	300
March 15	1:54 PM CDT	EF2	Covington, MS	16.1	750		11
March 15	2:11 PM CDT	EF2	Jefferson Davis, MS	12.6	600
March 15	2:21 PM CDT	EF1	Lauderdale, AL	2.3	63			$109,000
March 15	2:38 PM CDT	EF1	Jasper, MS	8.4	300
March 15	3:03 PM CDT	EF2	Marion, MS	18.2	1,160	1	1
March 15	3:08 PM CDT	EF1	Greene, AL	26.5	1,200
March 15	3:20 PM CDT	EF1	Bedford, TN	4.5	300			$1.0 million
March 15	3:27 PM CDT	EF1	Covington, MS	6.8	580
March 15	3:46 PM CDT	EF1	Jasper, MS	2.6	320
March 15	4:00 PM CDT	EF1	Tuscaloosa, AL	11.5	600
March 15	4:09 PM CDT	EF2	Jasper, MS	13.0	300
March 15	4:12 PM CDT	EF2	Tuscaloosa, AL	39.5	1,000
March 15	4:17 PM CDT	EF1	Saint Tammany Parish, LA	7.7	50
March 15	4:32 PM CDT	EF2	Pickens, AL	21.6	950
March 15	4:33 PM CDT	EF1	Clarke, MS	13.3	400
March 15	5:20 PM CDT	EF2	Sumter, AL	3.3	650
March 15	6:38 PM CDT	EF0	Hale, AL	21.6	700
March 15	7:39 PM CDT	EF0	Bibb, AL	7.6	75
March 15	7:57 PM CDT	EF1	Shelby, AL	7.5	250
March 15	8:00 PM CDT	EF1	Shelby, AL	2.5	150
March 15	8:20 PM CDT	EF1	Washington, AL	6.3	200
March 15	8:42 PM CDT	EF2	Talladega, AL	3.6	500	1	1
March 15	8:48 PM CDT	EF1	Clarke, AL	13.9	240
March 15	8:50 PM CDT	EF3	Autauga, AL	24.3	1,000	2	2
March 15	9:10 PM CDT	EF0	Clarke, AL	1.4	200
March 15	9:33 PM CDT	EF1	Coosa, AL	12.0	200
March 15	11:41 PM EDT	EF1	Paulding, GA	11.6	200
March 15	10:48 PM CDT	EF3	Tallapoosa, AL	20.4	800
March 15	11:02 PM CDT	EF2	Pike, AL	21.3	1,400		3
March 15	11:59 PM CDT	EF0	Chambers, AL	3.8	100

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.