Source: WISH-TV
LAKE COUNTY, Ind.–The National Weather Service in Chicago confirmed that an EF-1 tornado touched down near Gary in Lake County at 10:15 pm Tuesday.
It was on the ground from 10:15 to 10:18 pm. It touched down just east of U.S. 12. It also damaged some trees and wooden utility poles. It eventually went out onto Lake Michigan and became a waterspout.
“It had peak winds of 90 miles per hour. It also had a path length of two miles. These types of tornadoes are fairly weak. If they’re embedded with strong, straight line winds, then it could be hard to tell what’s straight line damage and what’s tornado damage. This is the low end,” said Matthew Eckhoff, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Indianapolis. He was able to access the storm damage data from the NWS Chicago office.
Indiana normally averages one tornado every February. This was the second tornado in February. The first one happened in Clark County on February 10. Eckhoff does not believe there is any reason to be alarmed by that.
“If we had a massive outbreak with multiple tornadoes, then that would be concerning,” said Eckhoff.
There were 54 tornadoes in Indiana in 2023. That was the second most active year for tornadoes in the state’s history. The most active was in 2011 when there were 72.
The highest possibilities for tornadoes exist from April to June.
As for this weekend, Eckhoff says you can expect temperatures to reach into the upper 60s across Indiana.
“It’ll be breezy at times too. Skies will be generally clear. It will be spring-like, especially Sunday,” said Eckhoff.
You can listen to the full interview with Eckhoff.
