A National Weather Service damage survey team confirmed today that an EF-1 tornado touched down near Peru, Indiana July 10. Meteorologists estimate that the twister contained 95 mph winds. It was on the ground for 3.5 miles and lasted only five minutes. See photographs of some of the damage.
The tornado touched down at 1:28 p.m. NWS had not issued tornado warning. The tornado was probably too small to be detected by Doppler radar. NWS did, however, issue a severe thunderstorm warning for the same area at 1:19 p.m., nine minutes before the tornado touched down. NWS had issued a severe thunderstorm watch that included Miami County at 12:35 p.m., 53 minutes for the tornado touched down.
Thunderstorm warning issued at 1:19 p.m. Covered the area within yellow outline.
The moral to this story: Do not ignore severe thunderstorm warnings! Severe thunderstorms can and do produce tornadoes quickly. Plus, even without a tornado, a severe thunderstorm can do as much damage as a weak tornado.
P.S. Thanks to the Iowa Environmental Mesonet website for making it easy to research previous-day warnings, etc.
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 333 PM EDT THU JUL 11 2013 /233 PM CDT THU JUL 11 2013/
...FORT WAYNE NOAA WEATHER RADIO BROADCAST ON LOW POWER THROUGH FRIDAY...
THE FORT WAYNE NOAA WEATHER RADIO BROADCAST...WXJ-58 AT 162.550 MHZ...WILL CONTINUE TO BROADCAST AT LOW POWER THROUGH THE DAY ON FRIDAY. MAINTENANCE BEGAN TODAY TO REPAIR THE LOW POWER AND DEGRADED SIGNAL ISSUES THAT THE TRANSMITTER HAS BEEN EXPERIENCING OVER THE PAST TWO WEEKS. THE DAMAGE APPEARS TO BE FROM A LIGHTNING STRIKE...AND FURTHER MAINTENANCE IS NEEDED ON FRIDAY JULY 12TH TO RESTORE THE BROADCAST TO FULL POWER. THE WEEKLY TEST OF THE NOAA WEATHER RADIO WILL NOT BE CONDUCTED ON FRIDAY JULY 12TH FOR THE FORT WAYNE TRANSMITTER. THE NEXT PLANNED WEEKLY TEST WILL BE CONDUCTED ON WEDNESDAY JULY 17TH BETWEEN 11 AM AND NOON EDT.
THIS STATEMENT WILL BE UPDATED WHEN FURTHER INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE.
A photo from Twitter of structure damage in Peru, Indiana from today’s storms.
The northern Indiana office of the National Weather Service issued the report below. It provides a preliminary summary of storm damage reported to the NWS from any of the counties the northern Indiana office serves.
The office also issued a public information statement which indicates it has confirmed no tornado activity during today’s storms but that it plans to send survey teams into the field tomorrow to evaluate storm damage.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 745 AM EDT THU JUL 11 2013
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CANCELLED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 406 FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS
IN INDIANA THIS CANCELS 10 COUNTIES
IN NORTHERN INDIANA
ADAMS ALLEN IN BLACKFORD DE KALB GRANT HUNTINGTON JAY MIAMI WABASH WELLS
IN OHIO THIS CANCELS 5 COUNTIES IN NORTHWEST OHIO
DEFIANCE FULTON OH HENRY PAULDING WILLIAMS
THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF...ANTWERP...ARCHBOLD...AUBURN... BERNE...BLUFFTON...BRYAN...DECATUR...DEFIANCE...DESHLER... DUNKIRK...FAYETTE...FORT WAYNE...GARRETT...GAS CITY... GRISSOM AFB...HARTFORD CITY...HICKSVILLE...HUNTINGTON... LIBERTY CENTER...MARION...MELROSE...MEXICO...MONTPELIER... MONTPELIER...NAPOLEON...NEW HAVEN...NORTH MANCHESTER...OSSIAN... PAULDING...PERU...PORTLAND...ROANOKE...SHERWOOD...SWANTON... UPLAND...WABASH AND WAUSEON.
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTHERN INDIANA HAS ISSUED AN
* URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY FOR... SOUTHERN ALLEN COUNTY IN NORTHEAST INDIANA
* UNTIL 330 PM EDT
* AT 200 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER FORT WAYNE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH. DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATED OVER AN INCH OF RAIN HAS FALLEN IN SOUTHWEST ALLEN COUNTY OVER THE PAST HOUR RESULTING IN FLOODING OF STREETS AND LOW LYING AREAS.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS SAFELY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.
TO REPORT FLOODING...POST YOUR INFORMATION ON THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA FACEBOOK PAGE...OR YOU CAN POST ON TWITTER WITH THE HASHTAG... #NWSIWX.
MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 1368 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 1153 AM EDT WED JUL 10 2013
AREAS AFFECTED...NRN IND...NW OH AND SRN LOWER MI
CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH LIKELY
VALID 101553Z - 101700Z
PROBABILITY OF WATCH ISSUANCE...80 PERCENT
SUMMARY...A SEVERE THREAT IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS NRN IND...NW OH AND SRN LOWER MI THIS AFTERNOON. WIND DAMAGE...LARGE HAIL AND AN ISOLATED TORNADO COULD OCCUR WITH THE STRONGER CELLS. WW ISSUANCE WILL BE LIKELY ACROSS THE REGION OVER THE NEXT HOUR.
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 1049 AM EDT WED JUL 10 2013 /949 AM CDT WED JUL 10 2013/
...WEEKLY TEST OF THE NOAA WEATHER RADIO POSTPONED... ...FORT WAYNE NOAA WEATHER RADIO BROADCAST WILL BE DOWN FOR REPAIRS THURSDAY MORNING...
DUE TO THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER TODAY...THE WEEKLY TEST OF THE NOAA WEATHER RADIO IS POSTPONED. THE TEST WILL BE CONDUCTED ON THURSDAY BETWEEN 11 AM AND NOON EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING TRANSMITTERS...KJY-62 AT 162.500 MHZ FROM LAPORTE...WXJ-57 AT 162.400 MHZ FROM SOUTH BEND...AND WXI-94 AT 162.425 MHZ FROM ANGOLA.
THE FORT WAYNE NOAA WEATHER RADIO BROADCAST...WXJ-58 AT 162.550 MHZ...WILL BE DOWN FOR ANTENNA REPAIRS BEGINNING THURSDAY JULY 11TH DURING THE MORNING HOURS. THIS MAINTENANCE WILL REPAIR THE LOW POWER AND DEGRADED SIGNAL ISSUES THAT THE TRANSMITTER HAS BEEN EXPERIENCING OVER THE PAST TWO WEEKS. DUE TO THE REPAIRS...THE WEEKLY TEST WILL NOT BE CONDUCTED FOR THE FORT WAYNE TRANSMITTER ON THURSDAY. IF THE SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE IS COMPLETED...THE TEST MAY BE CONDUCTED ON FRIDAY JULY 12TH BETWEEN 11 AM AND NOON EDT FOR THE FORT WAYNE TRANSMITTER.
THIS STATEMENT WILL BE UPDATED WHEN FURTHER INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE.
SKYWARN storm spotter activation might be needed today, according to an updated Hazardous Weather Outlook that the northern Indiana National Weather Service office issued at 10:16 a.m.
There is a 40 percent chance of a severe thunderstorm watch for much of Indiana and western Ohio (see map above) as early as late this morning, according to a mesoscale discussion that the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center (SPC) issued at 8:57 a.m.
