Thunderstorm Wind — Floyd, Indiana

2023-06-25 · near Edwardsville, Floyd, Indiana

Event narrative

The survey team found straight-line wind damage at The Sporting Club at the Farm on State Road 111. A large pole barn on the south end of the property had its roof peel off and blown downwind towards the south-southeast. Parts of the roof struck a wooden farm fence which brought down multiple sections of the fence. Some of the debris then crossed 5 mile lane and took out a power pole bringing down the pole and power lines. Some of the roof went as far as 150 yards from the barn. All of the roof blew in the same general direction. The east wall of the pole barn, which is one of the short sides of the barn, blew out falling towards State Road 111. The base of the wall remained near it original location.

An approximate 90 to 95 mph out of the north-northwest wind got under the roof's overhang and was able to peel the roof off, and push the east side wall out. The only other damage in the area was minor tree damage.

Wider weather episode

An anomalously strong mid- and upper-level trough for late June moved across the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley on June 25th. A 60-70 kt 500 mb jet bisected the mid-Mississippi Valley, placing central Kentucky and southern Indiana in the left exit region, contributing to broad rising motion over the area. Near the surface, a well-defined cold front crossed the Mississippi River during the mid-to-late afternoon hours on June 25th, with temperatures in the upper 80s and lower 90s and dewpoints in the upper 60s and lower 70s in the warm sector ahead of the front. In the warm sector, mixed-layer CAPE of 2500-3500 J/kg provided plenty of fuel for convective development aside from the aforementioned favorable jet forcing. With 25-35 knots of flow at 850 mb, there was also ample vertical wind shear across the region, with effective bulk shear values generally above 45 kt, leading to the development of supercellular structures. The parameter space was favorable for all severe hazards. 0-1 km storm-relative helicity was over 200 m2/s2 and significant tornado parameter values were frequently greater than 1, suggesting the potential for rotating mesocyclones and tornadoes. Downdraft CAPE was over 1200 J/kg along and west of Interstate 65, suggesting the potential for strong winds from any formidable downdrafts. Finally, sufficient mid-level lapse rates and significant hail parameter values warranted concerns for severe hail. As would be expected given the parameter space, all severe hazards were observed, with a couple tornadoes and numerous straight-line wind and hail reports across southern Indiana and central Kentucky. Straight-line winds of up to 100 mph and multiple reports of golf ball or larger size hail serve as evidence of the highly unusual setup across the Ohio and Tennessee valleys June 25th.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.2160, -85.8700)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1119182. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.