Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Indiana, August 6 to 7, 2023

The National Weather Service conducted a storm damage assessment survey in Dubois County Indiana from the storms just after midnight Monday morning August 7. The first damage point had a few topped and twisted trees near County Rd 200 West and Haysville Rd. Wind speeds were 85 mph with a width of 60 yards. At County Road|150 W. and Haysville Rd they were tree snapped and twisted and a cinder block building collapsed. Winds increased to EF1 90 mph with a width of 75 yards. Further east along Haysville Road, all the way to Haysville US 231, there were trees twisted, topped, snapped and uprooted. There was a baseball park home plate fencing that came apart and was thrown 25 yards and moved 20 degrees to the north. Wind speeds were consistent at 90 mph with a width of 90 yards.

On Indiana 56 in Haysville there were several barns, outbuildings and one business with substantial roof and gutter damage. Winds were between 90 and 95 mph with a width of 100 yards. Along Indiana 56 there was a lot of tree damage with snapped and uprooted trees facing from a north northeast direction to a east southeast direction. At 1011 West Haysville Rd. there was a greenhouse that was thrown 60 yards and moved 30 degrees to the north, and two barns sustained roof damage.

At East County Road 725 North there was a single residence home that lost its entire roof, and debris from that house was on three sides of the adjacent house with some windows blowing out. The homeowner described the harrowing experience of holding down his family as the roof started breaking away. He described an intense earache and a loud noise that lasted 15 seconds. Four barns experienced extensive roof and siding damage. Wind speeds in this area were 100 mph, with a width of 100 yards. Drone photography showed damage from the barns went up to 200 yards to the east and northerly directions.

Sadly there were several barns damaged at a turkey farm on N. Hickory Grove Rd with many poultry killed. Further east on N. County Rd. 575 W. there were a couple of large barns that had extensive roofing damage that was thrown a couple hundred yards to the east northeast. Max Wind speeds were 100 mph and the width was 125 yards. Tornado damage continued along both sides of Indiana 56 with trees and barns taking the most damage. There were at least 10 barns that had significant roofing damage between Kellerville and Crystal. In the Crystal community along East Cuzco Rd North, there were many trees that were snapped. Homes in this area had shingles removed, soffits, facia, and gutter damage, and one garage sustained significant roofing and siding damage. Winds in this area were 95 mph with a width of 125 yards.

A few single family homes, as well as smaller farm outbuildings, sustained considerable wind damage (95mph) just north of State Road 56 on N Crystal Road. A freestanding garage had its roof uplifted and blown towards the east side of the property. The southern wall of the garage was also missing. The adjacent home had evidence of mud splatter on its southern and eastern wall. Trees in the vicinity of the home were snapped in a converging pattern. Drone imagery from the patch of forest just to the east of the home indicates tree convergence in an easterly direction for an area about 150 yards wide. Most of the trees in this area were snapped and uprooted with very few still standing. The path of destruction appears to weaken east of this point.

Multiple homes along East Old State Rd 56 experienced significant wind damage from various directions. Most homes saw the loss of roof covering and had mud splatter on the southern and western walls. Debris appeared to cover large distances as well with some debris being found a quarter of a mile to the east. The most eastern house on the road saw the most damage where the eastern side of the house (garage portion) was completely separated from the main home and shifted from its foundation. The front of the garage which was faced to the NW, seemed to have twisted and rolled towards the southeast. The roof and structure of the garage totally collapsed. Trees in the vicinity are tilted towards the south while some fell towards the east. The debris hit the western wall and some mud splatter was observed on the western and southern wall.

The tornado continued to the east where it crossed into Orange County.

There was damage to street lights.

Trees fell on the roadway.

The tornado first touched down in Dubois County near County Rd 200 West and Haysville Rd. After crossing into Orange County, the tornado continued about a mile and a half east where drone footage as well as tree snapping and uprooting indicated a slight convergence pattern towards the northeast. Multiple vehicles, trailers, and mobile homes were rolled over into the forest towards the northeast. This area along South County Road 1050 W sustained significant and extensive damage as compared to areas just west. The tornado continued to track in the east-northeast direction. Drone footage from trees and cornfields also indicate convergence. Most of the worst damage was observed just north of the French Lick airport.

As the tornado tracked northeastward, large swaths of trees were snapped and uprooted. Some homes saw minor roof and wall paneling damage. Areas just east of W County Road 150 S saw extensive tree damage where a path of about 200 yards wide experienced 105 mph winds according to the damage observed in the forest.

Just southwest of Paoli, near S county Road 225 and heading northeast towards S Thompson Lane, a path of significant damage affected multiple homes and created a vast debris field toward the northeast. The entire western side of a home had sidewall and paneling ripped off part of the roof. Part of the actual roof was also ripped off. Tree next to it also snapped. There was lots of debris to the northeast and house insulation in the fences and trees. A barn located on the edge of a clearing near a cornfield was mostly flattened towards the northeast.

Thompson lane saw major tree damage with large swaths of trees being snapped in a northeast direction and some slight convergence seen from drone footage. The tornado ended here with no observed damage to the east from this tornado track on the southwest side of Paoli. In total, the tornado was rated EF1 with 107 mph maximum|winds and was a continuous track for 25.89 miles, which is a record long tornado for August in the NWS Louisville county warning area. This breaks the previous known record for long track tornado in August of 4 miles in Jefferson County, IN on August |14, 2002.

The tornado began along S Indiana Ave where several large hardwood trees had branches snap towards the east. Some homes saw side wall paneling damage as well as roofing cover damage. Damage continued along W Summit Circle Dr where several more large hardwoods were uprooted and snapped.

The main area of damage is located just south of the downtown area of French Lick on Skyline Drive. This is an area of higher elevation that saw multiple large hardwood trees snapped, some houses saw shingles and side paneling damage. This is where the highest wind speeds of 107 mph would have occurred based on damage making this tornado an EF1.The tornado then made its way northeast to S Summit St where one home saw significant sidewall damage on both its north and south side, as well as paneling damage.

The tornado then tracked southeast towards W County Road 100 S where it appeared to weaken. Several smaller hardwoods saw their limbs broken off and debris was spread out towards the north. A small sandbox outbuilding had its roof torn off and|debris fell just slightly east of the structure. Surrounding trees were bent towards the east and northeast. The winds in this area topped out at 85 mph based on the damage seen.

The first damage point had a few topped and twisted trees near Red Bud Lane and Hospital Rd. Wind speeds were between 75 and 80 mph with a 50 yard width. There was sporadic tree damage along a creek, and tree damage became more concentrated along Apache and Slaten Drive with trees twisted, topped, and one uprooted tree. Wind speeds increased to 85 to 90 mph with a width of 75 yards. The width increased to 100 yards along Sandy Hook Road and Paul Street with wind speeds around 90 mph. There were several trees on homes, and increased twisting of the trees with damage going from the east southeast to the north northeast. There were numerous power poles and powerlines down between Indiana 37 and Paul Street.

The peak of the tornado damage was on the east side of Indiana 37 between Locust Street and Oak Street. Several warehouses had significant roof damage with debris thrown from east southeast to north northeast. There were several cars that had debris on the west and east side of them. The debris from the warehouse was thrown into a forested area up to 200 yards in distance. Wind speed in this area were 100 mph with a width of 110 yards. The NWS drone was key to the survey, with drone imagery capturing trees snapped, topped, and uprooted several hundred yards east of the last warehouse. There was a lot of straight line wind damage between the two different tornadoes in Paoli.

There was plenty of straight-line tree damage from just south of the courthouse in Paoli all the way to the Pioneer Mothers Park of Hoosier National Forest. Across from the park (west side of Indiana Hwy 37) at a residence, there were many trees and large limbs down from straight-line winds (west to the east direction) of 65 mph on the south side of the property and further south on Indiana Hwy 37.

However on the north side of the property, cedar trees were twisted and debris thrown to a north-northeasterly direction. A sycamore tree was snapped with debris going from the east-northeast all the way to a northerly direction.

The survey team spoke to hikers attempting to hike down the Pioneer Mothers Park trail and it was impassable due to trees uprooted, twisted, snapped and topped. The hikers showed pictures of the dozens and dozens of snapped and uprooted trees going from the east- northeast to the north-northeast direction. This EF0 tornado had max wind speeds of 85 mph with a width of 60 yards wide.

The NWS Drone was key to the survey, with drone imagery capturing trees snapped, topped, and uprooted well into the forest. The drone was flown to a large quarry near Highway 150 with all tree damage all facing west to east direction.

The tornado first touched down on the west side of Paoli near the intersection of West Main Street and Willowcreek Road. It then moved eastward, hitting a warehouse on the north side of West Main Street while causing some damage to the roof and soffits. Winds speeds were around 85 mph with a width of 50 yards.

There was sporadic shingle and gutter damage to businesses along West Main Street on the west side of Paoli, with roofing material displaced and several trees snapped and twisted. The roofing material was spread out from a northerly to an easterly direction. There were at least two large trees on homes, laying in a north to northeasterly direction. The Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints Church had most of their windows blown out, as well as roof damage. An anchored sign had been blown over, facing almost due north. Winds were estimated at 90 mph with the tornado`s width increasing to 75 yards.

Several taller buildings at the square in Paoli had significant damage to brick fascia and roofing material was uplifted. The court house had several large chimneys down, and street signs were bent over more than 45 degrees. Damage was thrown several hundred yards to the north and east. Winds were estimated at 100 mph with a width of|75 yards.

There were numerous snapped and twisted trees along Indian Trail Road, with 75 trees down across Green Acres Golf Course. Additionally, there were many snapped, topped, and uprooted trees along Indiana State Road 56 with dozens of trees down on Blueberry Hill Estate. Winds were estimated to be 90 mph with a width increasing to 175 yards. Along Indiana State Road 56 between Limeberry Road and Tater Road, there were 7 barns sustaining roofing and gutter damage. Drone photography was able to detail large swirls in the corn and soybean fields adjacent to the property.

The most impressive damage was to two grain storage tanks, weighing over 50,000 pounds, with a collapse from the southwest to northeasterly direction. NWS drone photography did not show much damage to an adjacent corn field, and surveyors estimated winds at 100 mph at this point with a width of 150 yards.

There were dozens of power poles and lines down all along Indiana State Road 56 approaching Badger Family Farms. The last damage point was near County Road 700 and Indiana State Road 56 with some trees topped and twisted. Winds were estimated at 80 mph with an estimated tornado width of 50 yards. This is approximately 1 mile from the Washington County line on Indiana|State Road 56.

There was roof and tree damage in Livonia.

There were trees down over the road.

The first tornadic damage was a few trees down off Country Club Road going into the Western Hills Golf Course. There was damage to the garage roofing structure at the Salem Speedway. The tornado was intermittent as it straddled Indiana Hwy 56 in the west side of Salem.

The most significant amount of damage from the tornado was between Hwy 56 and Old State Route 60. There was plenty of damage to the siding, gutters, and to several businesses roofing structures. Debris from the buildings was thrown in a northerly to easterly direction about 150 yards. Winds were 90 mph with a width of 60 yards. There were several snapped and topped power poles and lines as well.

The tornado snapped and uprooted a few trees between old State Route 60 and North Cox Ferry Road. Winds in this area were 80 mph.

Drone photography showed that the damage stopped before it hit Cauble Street.

There was extensive straight-line wind damage throughout Salem of between 60 and 70 mph. One area off Drive-In Theater Rd had 80 mph straight-line winds with many hardwood trees uprooted.

On the northwest side of Salem Indiana, there was a very concentrated area of tree damage. Ground and drone photography determined the tree damage was from a strong 80 to 85 mph microburst between Cody Rd, Highland Road, Water Tower Road, and N. Nubian Rd. A mixture of hardwood and softwood trees were snapped and uprooted in nearly every direction, across a forested area between the four roads.

There was sporadic wind damage adjacent to this microburst area of tree damage.

A tree fell down on the roadway.

Trees snapped roughly 15 feet off the ground on the north side of Louis Smith Road.

Multiple trees and limbs fell on the roadway. One home was reported damaged.

The survey team went across the west northwest side of Scottsburg over to Lake Iona. There was sporadic straight line wind damage of 60 mph. Trees were all facing towards the east northeast.

Trees fell down over roads in Austin.

A tree fell on a house in Scottsburg.

A tree fell on a home.

A tree fell on a house.

A tree fell down on a road.

A tree fell on a home.

A few residents called about widespread tree damage in the Silver Hills Subdivision. The time on the report is based on when power went out as multiple storms passed through the area overnight.

Eight to ten large trees were blown down on East Administrative Road near South Jenkins Road. A few of the trees fell on a trailer and cars.