32 Years Ago This Month, Indiana Experienced A Strong, Ultra-Rare January Tornado
By Tori Jane|Published January 14, 2021
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Tori Jane
Author
Tori Jane is a storm chaser, writer, photographer, and the village idiot - in that order. When she's not out and about dancing with the meanest storms on planet Earth for funsies she can be found wandering, shooting landscapes, writing, editing photos, and otherwise up to no good. Legend has it that she can also be occasionally spotted typing up short bios in the third person, but those rumors are unsubstantiated.
Severe weather is not uncommon in the Hoosier state. Every year, we get our fair share of hail, severe storms, and tornadoes; generally, they occur in the spring and summer. Occasionally, though, the atmosphere will surprise us and spit something out in, say, winter. Just 32 years ago this month, Hoosiers got quite a rude surprise. On January 7th, 1989, a violent F4 tornado touched down in neighboring Illinois, crossed the Wabash River, and tore a trail of destruction through parts of Indiana.
Author’s note: Though the map showing the path of this tornado is genuine, photos in this article are from other Indiana severe weather events due to a lack of public-access photo documentation of this storm. The photos of tornado damage are photos from other Indiana F4 tornadoes; the damage to parts of Illinois and Indiana in 1989 would have looked similar.
January 7, 1989, was not your average winter day. Thick, dark clouds rumbled over the American midwest.
In the mid-afternoon, severe thunderstorms developed over much of the region. Minor tornadoes touched down in Mill Shoals and Albion, Illinois, but the system was just warming up.
Briefly after 5:00 p.m., a tornado touched town about four miles southwest of Allendale, Illinois.
It was powerful from the moment it touched the ground; initially, it was doing F2 damage. "F2" damage was defined at that time as "considerable damage," with winds between 113-157 miles per hour.
Modernly, an enhanced version of the F-Scale, known as the EF Scale, is used for tornado ratings. In today's terms, this tornado would have started its life as an EF2 or mid-range EF3.
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To the horror of meteorologists and residents of Wabash County, the tornado rapidly strengthened to a devastating F4-strength.
In 1989, F4-strength winds were measured as being 207-260 miles per hour. The damage was classified as "devastating."
At 5:19 p.m., the tornado wandered across the Wabash River, lingering on the water for a short time before clambering up onto the Indiana riverbank.
The tornado roared in, gearing down from F4 to F3 strength before it settled back at a still-devastating F2 strength, much like it had been at the start of its life. It seemed to make a beeline straight toward the town of Vincennes.
If the populated region of Vincennes was hit, the results would be ghastly.
There is some contention about exactly how long the tornado's path of destruction was; the Storm Prediction Center records say one thing and Storm Data records say another.
This tornado was significant in many ways, most notably, though, for the fact that it occurred in the dead of winter- which was (nearly) unheard of.
However, what is known for sure is that it was on the ground for at least 19-22 miles; tornadoes on the ground for longer than 25 miles are considered "long-track" and are uncommon.
The tornado was never larger than .056 miles wide- so, much less than a quarter-mile. This further drives home the idea that a tornado shouldn't be rated by size alone; wind speed and/or property damage are integral parts of the process.
In total, 5 Hoosiers were injured, but nobody was killed.
Illinois, particularly Allendale, had been ravaged; 55 were injured, though again, nobody lost their lives.
Strong tornadoes like the one that trekked from Illinois into Indiana are rare, even during the heart of tornado season. Somewhere around 2% of all tornadoes in the US are EF4s or EF5s; to have an F4 tornado rip up the land in Illinois and Indiana, in January, was quite an unusual event. It was the perfect storm of being in the wrong place at the just-right time, and it was downright terrifying.
Where were you during this historic storm event? Tell us your stories in the comments!
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