EF1 Tornado — Orange, Indiana

2025-03-15 · near West Baden Spgs, Orange, Indiana

Event narrative

The National Weather Service conducted a storm survey for the storms that occurred in Orange County early Saturday morning, March 15th 2025. A tornado was determined to have occurred in West Baden Springs and continued for about 11 miles to the

northeast to Orleans with a maximum wind speed of 110 mph and a max width of 50 yards. The first damage to have occurred was along West Sinclair Street in West Baden Springs where several trees were observed to be snapped about 20 feet in height from

the ground level. Power lines were also observed to be down on North Hopkins Street. Some minor damage to homes occurred in the neighborhood along Sinclair Street. The tornado continued east of Sinclair Street to rural portions of West Baden Springs where

tree damage was observed, as well as extensive roof damage to a residence in the hills east of West Baden Springs. Estimated wind speeds were between 90 and 100 mph at these locations.

The tornado continued to the northeast across West County Pike Road, Abbeydell Pike, and US Highway 150. Damage was observed in a neighborhood to the north of US Highway 50 where several trees had damage and some minor home damage was observed. Some debris splatter occurred to one home in this neighborhood on both sides of the home, and the homeowner commented about hearing the roar of the wind and the shaking of the house as the tornado passed by the home. The tornado continued to the northeast and struck a barn and did extensive roof damage as well as flipping an unanchored mobile home. The tornado continued along North County

Road 590 West to the northeast where another metal barn had collapsed. Wind speeds varied between 70 and 90 mph in this area.

The tornado continued to the northeast along mainly rural portions of Orange County north of Pipher Hollow where a residence had tree damage and roof damage on the southwest corner of the home. Shingles and insulation were thrown and lofted into

nearby trees mainly to the northeast. The tornado continued along West County Road 350 North where isolated tree snaps were observed with some minor siding damage to structures. The tornado then moved across North County Road 200 West and West

County Road 500 North where 6 power lines were snapped and a barn had some roof panels peeled off. Wind Speeds were estimated between 60 and 80 mph in these areas.

The tornado moved to the northeast across Lost River area where a home and several outbuildings had extensive damage from the tornado. At least a dozen trees were snapped at this location just to the west of North County Road 100 West. A pole barn garage was completely collapsed, and the insulation to the garage was lofted into nearby trees at least 30 feet high. The roof to the garage was lofted past the tree line north of the property and landed in a nearby field to the north. The snaps at this location were in various directions from the swirling tornado winds. The homeowner

commented about the roaring of the tornado, and had felt the air leaving the house in a rush and returning after the tornado passed. The strongest winds from the tornado occurred at this location where estimated winds were around 110 mph.

The tornado continued along North County Road 100 West where a tree line captured the width of the tornado. Several trees were snapped along the tree line, where other trees on either side of the path were untouched. The tornado was about 50 yards wide at this location with estimated wind speeds of about 100 mph. The tornado then continued to the northeast to the town of Orleans where several tree snaps occurred along South 6th Street and West Harding Street. The tornado then struck a pole barn residence where the roof was thrown to the north of the building and insulation was blown into nearby trees. The tornado continued to the northeast where a church had roof damage at South Second Street. After this point, the tornado lifted and no additional damage was observed.

Wider weather episode

On the morning of March 13th, a west to east oriented cold front was pushing south near the Ohio River, but it stalled before pushing back north. This left southern Indiana in the warm sector with warm moist air moving in from the south. As the system's north to south oriented cold front moved east through the Lower Ohio Valley on the 15th, several storms produced widespread large hail, damaging winds, and a tornado in Orange County.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.5632, -86.6092)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1246443. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.