F1 Tornado — Vigo, Indiana

2006-02-16 · near (huf)hulman Fld Tere, Vigo, Indiana

Event narrative

A tornado touched down just north of Interstate 70, and west of the Margaret Avenue and Fruitridge Avenue intersection, and traveled northeastward. Along its path, the tornado severely damaged Union Christian Church at State Road 46 and Hulman Drive, and at least 18 buildings and 6 planes at the Terre Haute International Airport, including the Ivy Tech State College building on the airport campus, where three people were trapped as emergency crews waited for power to be shut off before removing them from the building.A preliminary search indicated that this was the first tornado in Vigo county in just over thirteen years, and the first February tornado in Indiana in fourteen years and one day.

Wider weather episode

A large squall line containing several bowing segments moved through central Indiana on the evening of 16 February 2006. What was likely an embedded supercell structure produced an F1 tornado near Terre Haute in Vigo County, with widespread straight line wind damage occurring elsewhere along the line as it moved from west to east. The Vigo County tornado was the first February tornado in Indiana in almost exactly fourteen years.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.4333, -87.3667)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5486570. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.