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EF3 tornado in Miami County, Indiana

Tornado May 27, 2019 · Miami County, Indiana

EF3
Rating
13.7 mi
Whole path
800 yd
Path width

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 800 yards (0.45 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF3 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF3 is severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, consistent with estimated gusts of 136–165 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

Tornado started nearly one and a half miles north of Macy. Lots of tree damage and roofing material removed. Satellite tornado destroyed a grain silo that was tossed into a tree line about quarter mile southeast and completely destroyed a barn building as well. Tornado intensified and broadened its width as it carried ENE and completely leveled a two story house with debris scattered downstream across a field and across CR 200 W. It then passed through a heavily wooded area snapping or uprooting most trees before crossing CR 100 W and then completely destroying a single story brick ranch home. Adjacent machine shed was heavily damaged here as well and included a pickup truck that was picked up and tossed northeast of the house. Extensive tree damage continues ENE from here through a large grove of trees. Tornado continued northeast crossing West Pleasant Hill Road where two high voltage transmission towers were destroyed as well as extensive damage to structures in the area. Tornado continued northeast crossing north Meridian Road and heavily damaging two large farm properties with extensive structural damage noted. The tornado straddled the Miami/Fulton county line before crossing into Fulton county somewhere along E County Road 1600 N between N County Roads 100 E and 175 E. The maximum intensity of the tornado in Miami county was EF3 with maximum winds of around 140 mph.

The wider storm

A warm front surged north across the region, allowing for a moderately unstable, highly sheared environment to exist. Thunderstorms developed in Illinois and moved into northern Indiana, producing damaging winds and several tornadoes.

Began near Macy (40.9810, -86.1276).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

4 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 831595. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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