Waterspout — Calumet Harbor Il To Gary in, Lake Michigan

2024-02-27 · near Buffington Harbor, Calumet Harbor Il To Gary in, Lake Michigan

Event narrative

A tornado touched down near Cline Avenue and Industrial Highway just north of the Gary Airport. It tracked east for a couple of miles before moving out over southern Lake Michigan as a waterspout. It's believed that the twister dissipated not long after moving over the water. A photo was received from a local emergency manager of the tornado after it had moved offshore.

Wider weather episode

On the evening of the 27th, a complex of severe thunderstorms moved through Chicagoland producing a total of 11 tornadoes across the NWS Chicago area of responsibility before some of the storms move offshore and out over Lake Michigan. One of these 11 tornadoes was an EF-1 which tracked just north of the Gary Airport before moving out over the lake as a waterspout.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.6359, -87.3902)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1162782. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.