User:ChessEric/Tornado outbreak of October 23–25, 2001

Tornado outbreak of October 23–25, 2001

Oct 24: Tornado vortex signatures as seen by the North Webster WSR-88D radar.
Type	Tornado outbreak
Duration	October 23–25, 2001
Tornadoes confirmed	28
Max. rating1	F3 tornado
Duration of tornado outbreak2	~48 hours and 35 minutes
Fatalities	2 fatalities, 22 injuries
Damage	$26.073 million (2001 USD)
Part of the tornado outbreaks of 2001 1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale 2Time from first tornado to last tornado

A total of 28 tornadoes touched down during a large outbreak across the Great Lakes and Mississippi Valley.

Meteorological synopsis

The outbreak was caused by an extremely deep low pressure system that was detected as early as Saturday, October 20 moving in on the coast of California. The Storm Prediction Center was already predicting a chance of thunderstorms on Wednesday. The area forecast discussion started mentioning a "severe potential" on Tuesday, also mentioning "severe storms with large hail and damaging winds possible". By the morning of October 24, the SPC was on its highest alert after issuing a high risk for severe weather for Indiana, middle Kentucky, eastern Illinois, southern Michigan, and western Ohio. The surrounding area was in a slight risk. At 5:00 am, a severe weather outlook was issued highlighting the fact that the area was under a high risk as well as a possibility of tornadoes. By 11:30 am, the SPC issued a Public Severe Weather Outlook calling for "intense tornadoes" in the area. Just 15 minutes later, the SPC issued a Particularly Dangerous Situation Tornado Watch for northern Indiana, and northwestern Ohio.

At around 12:30 pm, a line of storms began forming in central and eastern Illinois and moved east. The town of Monticello, Illinois was struck by an F2 tornado, where homes and businesses were severely damaged. At around 3:12 pm, a tornado warning was issued for LaPorte County. This tornado killed a 50-year-old woman when her modular home was swept away near LaPorte. At 3:15 pm, another tornado watch was issued for southern Michigan.

At 3:46 pm, another tornado warning was issued for St. Joseph County, Indiana and southeastern Berrien County, Michigan and Cass County. A few minutes later, the strongest of the outbreak, rated F3, touched down and did major damage to buildings in Crumstown, a town near South Bend. The line moved into South Bend at exactly 4:05 pm, producing 89 miles per hour (143 km/h) winds at the airport. The tornado that hit Crumstown later hit Niles in Berrien County, then moved east-northeast into Cass County and dissipated in northwestern Saint Joseph County, Michigan. Two people were injured by the Crumstown tornado, and one man later died of his injuries. The storms prompted tornado warnings in Kalamazoo and Calhoun counties, and skies reportedly turned very green as the storms approached. The storms caused major damage to the Schoolcraft area of Kalamazoo County, where straight line winds in excess of 120 miles per hour (190 km/h) reported, causing a golf dome to blow away, ripping the roof off a house, ripping the front wall of a brick house off and twisting irrigation sprinkler systems. Strong winds were also reported in the City of Kalamazoo. In Calhoun County, strong straight line winds also struck near Tekonsha, causing damage.

Other weaker tornadoes touched down in Mishawaka and moved northeast into Elkhart County. In Elkhart County, one of two separate tornadoes hit a Toll Road Maintenance Building and the other briefly touched down in the Cobus Green Trailer Court to the south-doing some damage to a few trailers. Another tornado damaged a trailer and a house in Marshall County and moved east into Kosciusko County and dissipated in Noble County. This particular tornado was photographed by meteorologists as it came near their forecast office in North Webster. Prior to the photo being taken, the tornado hit a factory on the north side of Warsaw, Indiana.

Later in the evening, the severe storms produced strong straight line winds through the campus of Michigan State University downing many trees and damaging buildings. The National Weather Service estimates most of the downbursts through East Lansing were between 60–80 miles per hour (97–129 km/h), with one gust reaching 120 miles per hour (190 km/h). The supercell that passed through East Lansing also spawned two tornadoes in the Saginaw area. By 5:30 pm, the severe weather moved out of Indiana and into Ohio where damage was not as severe. One tornado was reported in Ohio, an F3 tornado that moved from Paulding County into Putnam County. That tornado caused major structural damage to buildings near Fort Jennings, Ohio. The severity of the activity began to wane later that evening. By 7:30 pm, all severe weather watches were discontinued.

Confirmed tornadoes

Confirmed tornadoes by Fujita rating

FU	F0	F1	F2	F3	F4	F5	Total
0	9	12	5	2	0	0	28

October 23 event

List of confirmed tornadoes – Tuesday, October 23, 2001

F#	Location	County / Parish	State	Start coord.	Time (UTC)	Path length	Max. width	Summary	Refs.

October 24 event

List of confirmed tornadoes – Wednesday, October 24, 2001

F#	Location	County / Parish	State	Start coord.	Time (UTC)	Path length	Max. width	Summary	Refs.
F0	SW of Cerro Gordo	Macon	IL	39.88°N 88.75°W / 39.88; -88.75 (Cerro Gordo (October 24, F0))	18:24	.1 miles (0.16 km)	20 yards (18 m)	Law enforcement reported that a tornado briefly touched down in a field, causing no damage.
F2	Monticello	Piatt	IL	40.03°N 88.58°W / 40.03; -88.58 (Monticello (October 24, F2))	18:35–18:38	1.8 miles (2.9 km)	300 yards (270 m)	Relatively short-lived, but strong tornado moved north-northeastward from the southwest side to the northeast side of Monticello. It first struck the Monticello Golf Club, blowing down numerous trees before destroying a storage building. The tornado then intensified to F2 intensity (wind speeds of 120 to 130 mph (190 to 210 km/h)), ripping the roof off a church and throwing it into the roof of a nearby 2-story apartment building, which suffered so much damage that it was deemed uninhabitable. Three quarters of an ~200 ft-long (61 m) farm implement building/business was destroyed, leaving behind nearly $2 million in damage, as several combines inside were severely damaged or destroyed. Debris from the building was thrown into a nearby power substation, causing a complete power outage to the town of 5,000 residents as well as neighboring communities. The tornado then weakened and lifted to tree-top level, producing F0 damage as numerous trees had the tops broken off and several large trees were uprooted. After exiting town, it briefly touched down again, damaging the roof of a home and destroying several outbuildings and a garage of another home, including one building where several 2-by-6s from one of the machine sheds had shot through patio doors into the home. The tornado lifted after that. Damage was estimated to be around $2.2 million (2001 USD).
F1	Northwestern Champaign	Champaign	KS	40.15°N 88.30°W / 40.15; -88.30 (Northwestern Champaign (October 24, F1))	18:55–18:57	1 mile (1.6 km)	100 yards (91 m)	This tornado initially touched down just west of the intersection of I-57 and I-74, causing minor damage to some free standing brick walls at an animal hospital. It then moved east-northeast and crossed the Interstate intersection, blowing over a semi on one of clover leaf ramps, although the driver did not sustain any injuries. A fabrication business to the east completely collapsed and a 30 feet (9.1 m) section of the front wall was pushed back towards the rear of the building. Two occupants of the business sustained minor injuries with one of them sustaining a broken hand and numerous cuts and bruises while the other had a minor bump on his head. Another building behind this business sustained major damage. The tornado then crossed a field into a small subdivision where a duplex sustained major damage when the western half of it was destroyed. Several other homes sustained minor roof damage, with the exception of one home which had part of its roof ripped off. Numerous trees and several power lines were blown down as well. Damage was estimated around $500,000 (2001 USD).
F1	Percy to N of Willisville	Randolph	AR	38.02°N 89.62°W / 38.02; -89.62 (Percy (October 24, F1))	19:35–19:37	2 miles (3.2 km)	70 yards (64 m)	A small tornado formed over Percy along the north side of a bow echo, downing large trees, one of which fell on and damaged a mobile home. It also damaged several large trees as it moved through the Southwestern Lakes Country Club. No damage estimate was given.
F0	Springerton	White	IL	38.18°N 88.37°W / 38.18; -88.37 (Spingerton (October 24, F0))	20:40–20:41	.5 miles (0.80 km)	50 yards (46 m)	This weak, but damaging tornado with peak winds of 70 to 75 mph (113 to 121 km/h) caused extensive damage as it moved through Springerton. Numerous trees and power poles were snapped, some of which caused damage to homes and businesses. Roofs were also blown off several homes, front porches were blown off, and a few machine sheds were obliterated and swept away. Many headstones in a local cemetery were overturned. Damage was estimated at $50,000.
F2	N of Brisco	Warren	AR	34.8°N 92.25°W / 34.8; -92.25 (North Little Rock (October 24, F2))	17:17–?	1 mile (1.6 km)	100 yards (91 m)
F0	N of Olive Branch	Lauderdale	TN	35.75°N 89.67°W / 35.75; -89.67 (Olive Branch (April 19, F1))	17:30–?	0.1 miles (0.16 km)	100 yards (91 m)
F0	WSW of Tylersville	Dyer	TN	36°N 89.58°W / 36; -89.58 (Tylersville (April 19, F1))	18:35–?	0.1 miles (0.16 km)	50 yards (46 m)
F1	N of Covington	Pemiscot	MO	36.13°N 89.87°W / 36.13; -89.87 (Covington (April 19, F2))	19:00–?	2.5 miles (4.0 km)	33 yards (30 m)
F3	S of Hickman to WNW of Farmington	Fulton, Hickman, Graves	KY	36.55°N 89.18°W / 36.55; -89.18 (Hickman (April 19, F2))	19:30–?	35.4 miles (57.0 km)	33 yards (30 m)
F1	ESE of Artesian to ENE of Alpena	Sanborn	SD	44°N 97.9°W / 44; -97.9 (Artesian (April 19, F2))	20:15–?	20.1 miles (32.3 km)	200 yards (180 m)
F2	S of England	Lonoke	AR	34.5°N 91.97°W / 34.5; -91.97 (England (April 19, F2))	20:15–?	0.1 miles (0.16 km)	33 yards (30 m)
F1	SSE of Hendron to NW of Little Cypress	McCracken, Marshall	KY	37.03°N 88.62°W / 37.03; -88.62 (Little Cypress (April 19, F2))	21:30–?	9.1 miles (14.6 km)	33 yards (30 m)
F0	WNW of Oak Level	Marshall	KY	36.87°N 88.47°W / 36.87; -88.47 (Oak Level (April 19, F1))	22:00–?	0.1 miles (0.16 km)	33 yards (30 m)
F1	S of Alvord	Lyon	IA	43.3°N 96.3°W / 43.3; -96.3 (Alvord (April 19, F1))	22:00–?	1 mile (1.6 km)	50 yards (46 m)
F2	SSE of Goodwin	Lee	AR	34.88°N 91°W / 34.88; -91 (Godwin (April 19, F1))	22:15–?	0.1 miles (0.16 km)	33 yards (30 m)
F1	ENE of Harding	Union	KY	37.65°N 87.97°W / 37.65; -87.97 (Harding (April 19, F2))	22:30–?	0.5 miles (0.80 km)	33 yards (30 m)
F1	ENE of King City	Gentry	MO	40.08°N 94.4°W / 40.08; -94.4 (King City (April 19, F2))	23:00–?	5.9 miles (9.5 km)	50 yards (46 m)
F1	ENE of Kiron	Crawford	IA	42.2°N 95.3°W / 42.2; -95.3 (Kiron (April 19, F1))	23:00–?	1 mile (1.6 km)	300 yards (270 m)
F3	NW of Volin	Turner	SD	43°N 97.23°W / 43; -97.23 (Volin (April 19, F1))	23:07–?	1 mile (1.6 km)	33 yards (30 m)
F1	WNW of Rockham to SW of Miranda	Faulk	SD	44.92°N 98.9°W / 44.92; -98.9 (Rockham (April 19, F2))	23:30–?	4.9 miles (7.9 km)	27 yards (25 m)
F1	NE of Spencer	McCook	SD	43.78°N 97.5°W / 43.78; -97.5 (Spencer (April 19, F1))	23:30–?	2 miles (3.2 km)	27 yards (25 m)
F0	N of Carbon Hill	Grundy	IL	41.3°N 88.3°W / 41.3; -88.3 (Carbon Hill (April 19, F2))	23:45–	0.1 miles (0.16 km)
F0	NE of Miranda to WNW of Devoe	Edmunds	SD	45°N 98.93°W / 45; -98.93 (Devoe (April 19, F1))	00:00–	6.4 miles (10.3 km)
F2	SE of Cameron	Clinton	MO	39.7°N 94.2°W / 39.7; -94.2 (Cameron (April 19, F2))	00:00–	1 mile (1.6 km)

October 25 event

List of confirmed tornadoes – Thursday, October 25, 2001

F#	Location	County / Parish	State	Start coord.	Time (UTC)	Path length	Max. width	Summary	Refs.

See Also

• List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks