EF2 Tornado — Benton, Indiana

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

Event narrative

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.

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 → (40.5330, -87.2830)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1086099. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.