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EF1 tornado in Benton County, Indiana

Tornado March 31, 2023 · Benton County, Indiana

EF1

Rating

5.6 mi

Path length

500 yd

Path width

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 500 yards (0.28 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The tornado dropped south of Goodland in rural Benton County south of E County Road 800 N east of N County Road 200 E. The storm tracked northeast and crossed into Jasper County at E County Road 900 N southwest of Remington. It lifted east of town north of W US Hwy 24 just west of N County Road 1200 W. Damage mostly consisted of snapped power poles, downed trees, and damage to small farm outbuildings.

The wider storm

During the afternoon and evening of the 31st, a wave of severe thunderstorms produced numerous tornadoes, severe hail, and extensive wind damage across northwestern Indiana. A total of 23 tornadoes were confirmed across the state. The NWS Chicago office tied a record for the most tornadoes to occur in a single calendar day within the office's county warning area with 22, 5 of which occurred in Indiana. Two EF-2 tornadoes occurred in Benton County and one other in Lee County, Illinois. Some of the more notable damage includes a few homes with walls and portions of roofing blown away, a wind turbine that had been snapped in half, and wind turbine blades thrown as far as 600 yards, all a result of the two EF-2 tornadoes in Benton County.

Began near Wadena (40.7125, -87.2775).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

5 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF2 Benton County EF2 Benton County EF1 Jasper County EF1 Lake County EF0 Porter County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1086094. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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