WINCHESTER, Indiana — Storms moved through central Indiana on Saturday, causing damage in some areas of the Hoosier state, including Randolph County, where a landspout tornado popped up at around 3:30 p.m.
The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-0 tornado was spotted and briefly touched down north of Winchester.
It was a sudden, unexpected landspout tornado that had peak windspeeds of 70 mph.
A landspout tornado originates from rotation near the ground and stretches upward. Unlike a typical tornado that has its rotation originate from a storm cell and extends downward, landspouts are normally short-lived and cause little to no damage.
The tornado came and went in just three minutes. During that time, it damaged an old outbuilding, pulling off parts of its roof and scattering them on the ground and across the property where the outbuilding was located.
According to Randolph County Homeland Security Emergency Management (HSEM), tornado sirens were not activated across the county when the tornado touched down.
The only exception to that was in the city of Winchester. Once the 911 center received reports from the public and responders, they activated Winchester's sirens.
But HSEM said many residents were left wondering why they didn't get any type of warning for this particular tornado.
HSEM posted on Facebook to explain.
"There was no indication that a severe weather event was occurring or predicted until the 911 center started receiving 911 calls," the post said. "...While Randolph County is in a slight risk for severe weather, the Storm Prediction Center did not have Randolph County under a tornado threat. The closest threat was in Illinois and that was a 2 percent threat, or a 98 percent chance of one not occurring."
The post also said that those 911 calls led to a tornado warning being "immediately" issued. That warning was issued for northern Randolph County, seven miles north of Winchester.
HSEM initially said tornado sirens weren't activated in Winchester because the tornado was reported north of Winchester, but later corrected that post by saying "Once the 911 center received reports from the public and responders, they did activate Winchester's sirens."
HSEM said they were looking into why not everyone was notified.
More storms are expected in Indiana overnight Saturday into Sunday morning.
According to the National Weather Service, the threat for thunderstorms will increase Saturday night across the western portions of central Indiana. Isolated severe storms with damaging winds and large hail are possible. Lightning, busty winds, small hail and heavy rain are all threats.
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