EF1 Tornado — Benton, Indiana

2023-03-31 · near Wadena, Benton, Indiana

Event narrative

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.

Wider weather episode

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.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.7125, -87.2775)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1086094. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.