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Public Information Statement
Issued by NWS Northern Indiana

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Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Northern Indiana
425 PM EDT SUN SEP 04 2016 /325 PM CDT SUN SEP 04 2016/

...NWS DAMAGE SURVEY FOR 08/20/16 TORNADO EVENTS-UPDATE...

.OVERVIEW...

The National Weather Service has confirmed an additional tornado
occurred on August 20th 2016, bringing the total to three, all of
which were rated EF-0 tornadoes. Brief tornadoes have already been
confirmed in extreme southeast Elkhart county and in north central
Allen county Indiana in the northern Fort Wayne vicinity. The third
tornado has been confirmed in western Kosciusko county, southwest of
Milford after recent photographic evidence was shared. The storm
that produced the tornado in Milford likely also spawned the EF-0 in
Elkhart county. A summary of these damage surveys is provided below
in chronological order.

.MILFORD INDIANA TORNADO...

Rating:                 EF-0
Estimated peak wind:    65 mph
Path length /Statute/:  1.6 miles
Path width /Maximum/:   10 yards
Fatalities:             0
Injuries:               0

Start date:             Aug 20, 2016
Start time:             2:53 pm EDT
Start location:         5.2 miles SW of Milford, IN
Start Lat/Lon:          41.3680 / -85.9299

End date:               Aug 20, 2016
End time:               2:57 pm EDT
End location:           3.6 miles SW of Milford, IN
End_lat/lon:            41.3803 / -85.9037

SURVEY_SUMMARY:

A flyover of farm land southwest of Milford revealed a sporadic path
of damage through several soy bean and corn fields. The circulation
was found to touch down in a field on North County Road 425 West,
about a half mile north of West County Road 900 North. An erratic
pattern was observed in the crops suggesting a weak, disorganized
circulation was in contact with the ground at times, crossing West
County Road 1000 N and N County Road 300 West before dissipating. At
the present time, the EF scale does not identify any crops as a
Damage Indicator (used to determine the intensity of the tornado)
and no other objects were impacted. Given the evidence of a weak
tornado, this will be classified as a EF-0 with maximum winds of 65
mph.

.SYRACUSE INDIANA TORNADO...

Rating:                 EF-0
Estimated peak wind:    65-70 mph
Path length /Statute/:  0.1 miles
Path width /Maximum/:   50 yards
Fatalities:             0
Injuries:               0

Start date:             Aug 20, 2016
Start time:             3:19 pm EDT
Start location:         1.2 miles NE of Syracuse, IN
Start Lat/Lon:          41.4431 / -85.7408

End date:               Aug 20, 2016
End time:               3:20 pm EDT
End location:           1.3 miles NE of Syracuse, IN
End_lat/lon:            41.4435 / -85.7397

SURVEY_SUMMARY:

A brief EF-0 tornado touched down just west of CR 133 south
of US-6 in southeast Elkhart county. The tornado caused minor
structural damage to two homes, snapped limbs of multiple
trees, and flattened corn in a field before lifting roughly
one minute and one tenth of a mile east northeast of where the
tornado touched down.


.FORT WAYNE INDIANA TORNADO...

Rating:                 EF-0
Estimated peak wind:    65-75 mph
Path length /Statute/:  2.4 miles
Path width /Maximum/:   70 yards
Fatalities:             0
Injuries:               0

Start date:             Aug 20, 2016
Start time:             5:42 pm EDT
Start location:         8 miles NE of Fort Wayne, IN
Start Lat/Lon:          41.1614 / -85.0551

End date:               Aug 20, 2016
End time:               5:49 pm EDT
End location:           10 miles NE of Fort Wayne, IN
End_lat/lon:            41.1822 / -85.0186

SURVEY_SUMMARY:

An EF-0 tornado touched down just to the south of the intersection
of Flutter and Young Roads in north central Allen county Indiana.
The tornado caused damage to large tree limbs in this area along
with an extensive area of flattened corn. Weak convergence of the
crop damage in spots suggested rotation. Sporadic damage continued
to the northeast with a pine tree uprooted at a residence on Eby
Road, or about a 1 mile northeast of the touchdown location. A
nearby residence on Eby Road also had minor shingle damage.
Approximately 1.3 miles to the northeast of the Eby Road damage, a
wooden swing set structure from the backyard was pushed to the front
of the yard at a residence on Notestine Road. Cuts in the yard
suggested the swing set rolled or bounced from the backyard to the
front yard. The tornado  lifted approximately 2.4 miles northeast
from the touchdown location.

EF Scale: The Enhanced Fujita Scale Classifies
Tornadoes into the following categories.

EF0...Weak......65 to 85 mph
EF1...Weak......86 to 110 mph
EF2...Strong....111 to 135 mph
EF3...Strong....136 to 165 mph
EF4...Violent...166 To 200 mph
EF5...Violent...>200 mph

NOTE:
The information in this statement is PRELIMINARY and subject to
change pending final review of the event and publication in
NWS Storm Data.

Thanks to spotters, media, emergency management, law enforcement,
and the public for storm reports during the event and assistance
with the surveys.

$$

NG/NDM