EF2 tornado in White County, Indiana

A NWS survey of damage revealed damage consistent with an EF2 tornado. The tornado touched down in an open field 4 miles west of Chalmers, northwest of the intersection of County Road 600 South and 450 West. The tornado crossed County Road 300 West, south of County Road 500 South where four 18 inch diameter power poles were snapped at the base (DI: ETL DOD: 4). Minor damage to siding and roofing was also observed at a home northeast of this location. A large pole barn in the same yard lost half of its roof while a barn next door to this residence was destroyed (DI: SBO DOD: 8) with debris from both locations being carried up to a mile to the northeast. One final barn suffered minor roof damage before the tornado lifted two miles north of Chalmers east of County Road 75 West and south of County Road 350 S. Maximum wind speeds were estimated around 120 mph.

Deep low pressure moved across the northern Great Lakes, with a strong cold front trailing well south into Arkansas. A 50 to 60 knot low level jet aided in advecting in dewpoints greater than 60 degrees. 0-1km storm relative helicity values of 400 to 600 m2/s2 setup the perfect environment for individual thunderstorms to rapidly rotate. Numerous circulations were noted during the event, some significant, which produced swaths of wind damage as well as several weak to strong tornadoes. Given forward speed of 60 mph or more, the convection quickly translated across the area in a matter of hours.