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EF2 tornado in Gibson County, Indiana

Tornado January 29, 2008 · Gibson County, Indiana

EF2
Rating
7.0 mi
Whole path
100 yd
Path width
2
Deaths
$250K
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Posey County → Gibson County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The tornado entered southern Gibson County from northern Posey County. Damage consisted mostly of downed trees and a few damaged barns and sheds. Peak winds were estimated near 120 mph. The average path width was about 80 yards.

The wider storm

A powerful cold front moved rapidly southeast across southwest Indiana during the late afternoon hours. An organized line of severe thunderstorms developed along the front as it approached southern Illinois, then swept east across southwest Indiana. Widespread damaging winds accompanied the line of storms. Temperatures fell about 30 degrees in less than one hour when the very strong cold front passed through.

Began near Crawleyville (38.2056, -87.7975).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 70096. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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