By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WARSAW — A microburst storm that hit Whispering Pines, Chapman Lake and other nearby areas on Friday afternoon produced winds upward of 80 mph — but no injuries.
While it normally takes more than a day to determine if storm damage was caused by a tornado, meteorologists at the weather station in North Webster were able to quickly determine it was a microburst in part because of the pattern of tree damage,
Meteorologist Lonnie Fisher said Sunday they were able to tour the area near Whispering Pines Mobile Home Park shortly after the storm.
“The magnitude of trees that came down also made it quite easy to determine what it was,
Fisher said.
The storm struck shortly before 4 p.m. with high winds, rain, and dime-size hail.
“The area up by Whispering Pines was easily probably about 70-80 (MPH) and then Chapman Lake … was pushing toward the 80s,” Fisher said.
“We’re lucky with the amount of wind that there was, there were no injuries,” he said.
Possibly the worst damage was on the east end of the mobile home park where a home was crushed in half while a family was away.
The storm caused sporadic power outages and there was significant tree damage throughout the area.
A series of downed trees made Levi Lee Road impassable for several hours.
Part of SR 13 was closed until 4:30 a.m. because of a downed power line.
Fisher said the storm developed so quickly that there was not enough time to issue a warning. By the time NWS received damage reports, much of the storm had moved to Whitley County, he said.
The weather service station is also just a few miles away and two of the meteorologists live nearby, Fisher said.
