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EF1 tornado in Elkhart County, Indiana

Tornado July 15, 2024 · Elkhart County, Indiana

EF1

Rating

1.2 mi

Path length

250 yd

Path width

$500K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 250 yards (0.14 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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

A survey of damage confirmed a brief tornado, embedded within an area of straight line wind damage. The tornado touched down southeast of Hawthorne Elementary School and proceeded quickly east-southeast. Numerous trees were uprooted, partially due to the wet ground conditions, as well as several snapped tree limbs and trunks. The greatest damage occurred in the area of Mather Ave, between Carlton Ave and Naomi St.

The wider storm

A decaying derecho moved through the area late in the evening on July 15th. Storms raced eastward into southwest Lower Michigan and northern Indiana, prompting several Severe Thunderstorm Warnings for winds up to 70+ mph and Tornado Warnings for embedded rotation along the line. Three tornadoes were confirmed.

Began near Elkhart (41.6651, -85.9719).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF1 La Porte County EF0 Marshall County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1203788. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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