Thunderstorm Wind — Benton, Indiana

2025-05-16 · near Fowler, Benton, Indiana

Event narrative

Thunderstorm outflow winds on the leading edge of a dust storm blew down numerous trees in and around Fowler. Three houses were damaged by trees, one seriously. Damage to roofs and windows was also reported, along with 15 utility poles snapped. A DOT webcam showed near zero visibility on Route 41 west of Fowler.

Wider weather episode

An area of thunderstorms moved across west central Indiana during the late afternoon of May 16th producing damaging convective wind gusts across southern Benton County. These high winds created a dust storm that raced north across northwest Indiana during the late afternoon and early evening of May 16th. Visibilities were one quarter mile or less in many areas with wind gusts as high as 65 mph on the leading edge of the dust storm.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.6197, -87.3806)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1251664. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.