EF2 tornado in Benton County, Indiana

Tornado March 31, 2023 · Benton County, Indiana

EF2

Rating

15.2 mi

Whole path

500 yd

Path width

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Benton County → White County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

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 EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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 touched down northwest of Oxford near the intersection of S County Road 200 E and E County Road 500 S. It tracked northeast for over 10 miles before crossing into southwest White County at E County Road 100 S. It lifted just east of South County Road 850 W at S US Hwy 231 in rural White County. The storm primarily downed trees and damaged farm outbuildings. However, it also caused damage to a few homes. The tornado is believed to have reached EF-2 intensity with wind speeds near 115 mph after crossing S County Road 875 E where large portions of a roof and some siding were torn off of a home.

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 Oxford (40.5330, -87.2830).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1086099. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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