Weather History - 2016 Indiana Tornado Outbreak

Written by: Brandon Molyneaux

On August 24, 2016, a tornado outbreak occurred in Central Indiana and Northwestern Ohio. 24 tornadoes were confirmed across Indiana and Ohio. The strongest tornado was 2 EF-3 tornadoes, one which hit Woodburn, Indiana. The other EF-3 destroyed a Starbucks in Kokomo, Indiana.

The Kokomo tornado is the first one that pops in my mind when I think of this day - social media was going nuts over the destroyed Starbucks. The people inside the Starbucks were trapped and had to be rescued by emergency crews. The Kokomo tornado also damaged over 1,000 homes and brought down large trees and power poles.

The Woodburn tornado ended up being a high-end EF-3 multi-vortex tornado. For the most part, farm fields were in the way of this tornado. However, a few barns and combines fell victim to the tornado and were ultimately destroyed as a result. Surveyors did note that the damage that was done suggested an EF-4 rating.

I have put together a package with radar data, which is available for download. Download the data by clicking this link.