EF2 Tornado — Gibson, Indiana

2025-03-15 · near Haubstadt, Gibson, Indiana

Event narrative

An EF-2 tornado began just northeast of the Tri State Speedway near Haubstadt. Damage to outbuildings and power poles occurred, along with many trees that were uprooted as it moved northeast crossing Highway 168 and did substantial damage to farm buildings and silos on County Road 550. It eventually crossed Interstate 69 and did roof damage to a church and canopy damage to a Gas Station to the southwest of Oakland City. Several trees were uprooted through town and one mobile home was severely damaged. The tornado continued northeast across the Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge and through Pike County. The tornado continued into Daviess county Indiana and had a total length of just shy of 58 miles. The estimated peak wind was 117 mph.

Wider weather episode

A significant severe weather episode unfolded across southwest Indiana in the early morning hours of the 15th, as a line of severe storms produced a tornado, damaging winds, and large hail. A strong negative-tilt 500mb trough moved northeast from Kansas to the Upper Midwest through the day and into the evening on the 14th. The associated 978mb surface low followed a similar track, and led to a rapid increase in low-level moisture just ahead of a trailing dry line that moved eastward across southwest Indiana on the morning of the 15th. The moisture return was sufficient for 1000-2000J/kg of CAPE to develop. Wind fields were extremely strong, with storm relative helicity in the 0-1km layer of 300m2/s2 and above, and 600m2/s2 in the 0-3km layer. The significant tornado parameter was over 6 which supported strong and long-track tornadoes. In addition, steep mid-level lapse rates around 8C/km supported very large hail. One EF-2 tornado developed near Haubstadt and moved northeast through Oakland City and on through northern Pike County and then into Daviess County. Oakland City took the brunt of the damage as a church and a few homes suffered roof damage and a mobile home was severely damaged. Otherwise, the tornado impacted trees, power poles, and farm buildings all along its path. In addition, 60-70 mph straight line winds were reported to the north and east of Evansville, and large hail was reported in several locations. The largest hail was up to golf ball size in Princeton.

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Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1242130. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.