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Tornado outbreak of August 24, 2016

Farm machinery mangled beyond recognition by a high-end EF3 tornado near Woodburn, Indiana.
Type	Tornado outbreak
Duration	August 24, 2016
Highest winds	Tornadic – 160 mph (260 km/h) (near Woodburn, Indiana)
Tornadoes confirmed	24
Max. rating	EF3 tornado
Duration of tornado outbreak	6 hours, 28 minutes
Fatalities	21 injuries
Damage	>$100 million
Areas affected	Indiana, Ohio, Ontario
Part of the tornado outbreaks of 2016 Most severe tornado damage; see Enhanced Fujita scale Time from first tornado to last tornado

A six-hour tornado outbreak of 24 tornadoes impacted Indiana, Ohio, and Ontario on August 24, 2016. Several of these tornadoes were strong and caused significant damage, including a high-end EF2 tornado that struck Windsor, Ontario, Canada and an EF3 tornado that struck Kokomo, Indiana. This particular tornado outbreak was unusual for multiple reasons, including the fact that it was largely unexpected. The Storm Prediction Center had issued only a slight risk for severe weather that day, with the threat for a tornado or two limited to parts of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois. Despite this, the outbreak unfolded entirely outside of the outlined threat area as numerous supercell thunderstorms developed unexpectedly across parts of the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, producing numerous tornadoes. Tornado outbreaks of this size and intensity are also not commonly seen during the late summer months across the Ohio Valley region. Despite the damage, no fatalities occurred.

Meteorological synopsis

The tornado outbreak of August 24 was not expected. That morning, the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) issued a level 2/Slight risk of severe weather stretching from northeastern Kansas into western Illinois. However, areas from northern Indiana to northwestern Ohio, where the brunt of tornadic activity occurred later in the day, were only in a level 1/Marginal risk; this risk area was for the threat of damaging winds, as the probability of a tornado within 25 miles (40 km) of any point across regions of Indiana and Ohio was forecast to be less than 2 percent. Throughout the morning and early afternoon hours, several bands of shower and thunderstorm activity overspread Illinois and Indiana, fueled by a boundary separating warmer temperatures to the south and cooler temperatures to the north. With convective available potential energy (CAPE) values around 2,000 J/kg, dewpoints in the low to mid-70s °F, and sufficient vertical wind shear along the boundary, the environment seemed supportive of severe thunderstorms, prompting the SPC to expand the Slight risk eastward into southern Illinois and Indiana. Still, areas across northern Indiana into lower Michigan and Ohio remained in a Marginal risk, as the cloud shield associated with a mesoscale convective vortex over northwestern Illinois was expected to limit instability in these areas.

Over the ensuing hours, unusual convective trends unfolded. While the morning line of storms across Illinois and Indiana dissipated, a secondary and more robust cluster of storms developed across eastern Illinois and progressed east by the early afternoon. Typically, discrete supercells congeal into squall lines as storms mature. In this case, however, the line of storms broke down into individual supercells as they tracked across northern Indiana and northwestern Ohio, marking the start of a short-duration but significant tornado outbreak. The first tornado touched down west of Indianapolis, Indiana, at 18:38 UTC (1:38 p.m. CDT). Shortly thereafter, the SPC issued a localized tornado watch for Indiana and Ohio, despite expressing uncertainty over whether one would be needed just an hour before. As the original round of tornado-producing supercells continued east, additional supercells developed throughout the afternoon hours. By the end of the day, a total of 24 tornadoes occurred across Indiana, Ohio, and Ontario in Canada, including a pair of EF3 tornadoes in southern Kokomo, Indiana, and near Woodburn, Indiana. In addition to the rare convective evolution and unexpected nature of the event, it was notable in that large tornado outbreaks are an unusual occurrence in late August.

Confirmed tornadoes

August 24 event

See also

• List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks

Notes

1. All dates are based on the local time zone where the tornado touched down; however, all times are in Coordinated Universal Time for consistency.

References

1. Matt Mosier; Andy Dean (August 24, 2016). "Aug 24, 2016 0600 UTC Day 1 Convective Outlook". Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
2. ^ Brynn Kerr; Steve Weiss (August 24, 2016). "Mesoscale Discussion 1580". Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
3. Steve Weiss; Joey Picca (August 24, 2016). "Aug 24, 2016 0600 UTC Day 1 Convective Outlook". Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
4. ^ Jeff Frame (August 26, 2016). "This is how the 'surprise' Indiana and Ohio tornado outbreak of August 24, 2016 happened". US Tornadoes. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
5. ^ "Indiana Event Report: EF2 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Indianapolis, Indiana. 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
6. Steve Weiss (August 24, 2016). "Tornado Watch 454". Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
7. ^ "Indiana Event Report: EF3 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Indianapolis, Indiana. 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
8. ^ "Indiana Event Report: EF3 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Indianapolis, Indiana. 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
9. "Indiana Event Report: EF0 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Indianapolis, Indiana. 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
10. "Indiana Event Report: EF0 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Indianapolis, Indiana. 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
11. "Indiana Event Report: EF1 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Indianapolis, Indiana. 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
12. "Indiana Event Report: EF1 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Indianapolis, Indiana. 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
13. "Indiana Event Report: EF1 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Indianapolis, Indiana. 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
14. "Ohio Event Report: EF2 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Northern Indiana. 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016."Ohio Event Report: EF2 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Northern Indiana. 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
15. "Indiana Event Report: EF0 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Northern Indiana. 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
16. "Indiana Event Report: EF2 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Northern Indiana. 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
17. "Ohio Event Report: EF1 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Northern Indiana. 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
18. "Ohio Event Report: EF1 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Northern Indiana. 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
19. "Ohio Event Report: EF1 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Northern Indiana. 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
20. "Ohio Event Report: EF0 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Northern Indiana. 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
21. "Indiana Event Report: EF0 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Indianapolis, Indiana. 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
22. ^ David Sillis; Emilio Hong; Aaron Jaffe; Sarah Stevenson; Gregory Kopp (October 2018). "The 'cross-border' tornado outbreak of 24 August 2016 - Analysis of the two tornadoes in Ontario" (PDF). American Meteorological Society. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
23. "Indiana Event Report: EF1 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Indianapolis, Indiana. 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
24. "Ohio Event Report: EF0 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Northern Indiana. 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
25. "Flooding rains follow 2 confirmed twisters in southern Ont". The Weather Network. August 26, 2016. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
26. "Tornadoes leave path of destruction in Windsor area". The Weather Network. August 26, 2016. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
27. "Indiana Event Report: EF0 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Indianapolis, Indiana. 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
28. "Ohio Event Report: EF0 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Northern Indiana. 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
29. "Ohio Event Report: EF0 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Northern Indiana. 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
30. "Ohio Event Report: EF0 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Northern Indiana. 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016."Ohio Event Report: EF0 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Northern Indiana. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
31. "Ohio Event Report: EF0 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Cleveland, Ohio. 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.

• Tornadoes in Ohio
• Tornadoes in Ontario
• Tornadoes of 2016
• 2016 in Ohio
• 2016 in Indiana
• 2016 in Ontario
• August 2016 events in North America
• Tornadoes in Indiana