EF2 tornado, Garnerville to Parkers Settlement, Illinois, April 2, 2024

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. EF186 to 110 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 mphthis tornado

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. EF3136 to 165 mph

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. EF4166 to 200 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. EF5over 200 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating

EF2

Date

April 2, 2024

Touchdown

5:30 AM CDT (10:30 UTC)

Lifted

5:43 AM CDT (10:43 UTC)

On the ground

13 minutes

Path length

11.9 miles (19.2 km)

Path width

250 yards (229 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$135,000

Counties

Posey and White counties

Touchdown point

38.077, -88.014

Lift-off point

38.063, -87.796

Record number

2404020430-01

148 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS PAH, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 120 mph.

• Several tree branches snapped, trees, uprooted, trees snapped in this path.
• Substantial tree damage many pines snapped near base
• Numerous trees snapped in this location
• Several snapped trees and tree branches in this vicinity. Roof of garage thrown south and east.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

Early morning, the surface low was located just north of St. Louis, Missouri, lifting to the NNE as it rapidly deepened. For Southern Illinois, early morning effective bulk shear was 60-65 kts, with a very high 20-30 kts of 0-1 km shear, while SRHs near the Ohio River were around 150-200 m2/s2. MLCAPE was 1000 J/kg, and mid-level lapse rates were 6.5 C/km. A 70-90 kt mid-level jet was west of the Quad State. A strong capping inversion suppressed storm activity in the evening, but the strong lift and upper level diffluence won out early morning. Two lines of storms developed after midnight in Southeast Missouri. The first progressed through the I-64 corridor from 0100-0400 CST. The latter was a very potent thunderstorm line racing eastward early morning April 2nd. This line continued throughout the day all the way to West Virginia, being designated a derecho. For Southern Illinois, widespread wind damage occurred with this line, and sections of the line that took a north-south orientation had a much more favorable line-normal component of shear promoting QLCS tornado development. Seven tornadoes originated in Southern Illinois: 2 in Williamson County (EF-2 and EF-1), 1 in Saline County (EF-2), 3 in Gallatin County (all EF-1s), and 1 in White County (EF-2 with the EF-2 damage in Posey County Indiana). Two people suffered laceration injuries due to flying debris with the Saline County tornado. A total of 19 tornadoes were found during this event, the highest single day total for the NWS Paducah forecast area since Halloween 2003 (also 19).

Early morning, the surface low was located just north of St. Louis, Missouri, lifting to the NNE as it rapidly deepened. For Southwest Indiana, early morning effective bulk shear was 65-70 kts, with a very high 25-30 kts of 0-1 km shear, while SRHs were around 150-200 m2/s2. MLCAPE was 1000 J/kg, and mid-level lapse rates were 7 C/km. A 70-90 kt mid-level jet was west of the Quad State. A strong capping inversion suppressed storm activity in the evening, but the strong lift and upper level diffluence won out early morning. Two lines of storms developed after midnight in Southeast Missouri. The first just missed to the north of Gibson County. The latter was a very potent thunderstorm line racing eastward early morning April 2nd. This line continued throughout the day all the way to West Virginia, being designated a derecho. For Southwest Indiana, widespread wind damage occurred with this line, and sections of the line that took a north-south orientation had a much more favorable line-normal component of shear promoting QLCS tornado development. This was the case for Posey, Vanderburgh, and Warrick Counties. Seven tornadoes originated in Southwest Indiana: 2 (both EF-2) in Posey County, 3 in Vanderburgh County (1 EF-2 and 2 EF-1), and 2 in Warrick County (both EF-1). Including county crossovers, there were 4 tornadoes in Posey County, 4 in Vanderburgh County, and 6 in Warrick County. Four tornadoes crossed from Vanderburgh into Warrick County at approximately the same time. There were also 3 microbursts/macrobursts south of the tornado tracks: a microburst in Posey County, a macroburst that progressed from Parkers Settlement in Posey County to Melody Hill in Vanderburgh County, and a microburst south of Boonville in Warrick County. A total of 19 tornadoes were found during this event, the highest single day total for the NWS Paducah forecast area since Halloween 2003 (also 19). Vanderburgh County EMA tallied up at least 42 structures damaged (including 5 with roof damage, 7 houses damaged or destroyed, 7 hours with trees on them, 15 barns or storage structures damaged or destroyed, a gas station overhang blown over, and a radio tower blown over). Additionally, 4 semis or semi-trailers and 4 cars were blown over. Numerous metal power poles were blown over and bent in half along US-41.

An EF-2 (peak of EF-1 in White County) tornado began in far eastern White County during the early morning hours of April 2nd. The path began near IL 1400 with tree damage. The tornado tracked eastward, crossing the Wabash River into Posey County, IN. Estimated peak winds on the White County portion of the path were 90 mph.

An EF-2 tornado struck western Posey County, IN, during the early morning hours of April 2nd. This tornado began in far eastern White County, IL, before proceeding to cross the Wabash River into Posey County. The tornado crossed through Harmonie State Park causing significant tree damage. The tornado tracked to the south-southeast, crossing IN-69 near Lynn with several pine trees snapped at the base. Additional tree damage occurred on Harmony Springfield Rd and Springfield Rd, the latter of which also had an outbuilding collapse. The tornado crossed Oliver Rd and Wade Rd, destroying multiple outbuildings and a grain bin while damaging a roof on Oliver Rd. The tornado track shifts northeastward, eventually merging with another tornado west-southwest of the town of Blairsville. In total, hundreds of trees were uprooted or snapped, several outbuildings/sheds were damaged or destroyed, and minor to moderate roof damage occurred to several homes. Estimated peak wind speeds for the tornado as a whole, and in the Posey County segment, are 115 mph.

An EF-2 occurred in Central Posey County, IN, early morning on April 2nd. The path started just east of IN-69, resulting in tree and powerline damage as it moved southeastward towards Harmony Township Rd. Large portions of a roof were blown off a home on Harmony Township Rd, while a roof and several walls were blown off of a barn on Williams Rd. The tornado continued to track southeastward, eventually merging with another tornado west-southwest of Blairsville. North of Parkers Settlement, the tornado destroyed a barn on IN-66 and threw a garage roof south and east at Rexing Rd. The tornado lifted just north of Parkers Settlement, after which straight-line wind damage continued into Vanderburgh County on the north side of Evansville. In total, hundreds of trees were snapped or uprooted, dozens of outbuildings were damaged or destroyed, and minor to moderate damage occurred to several homes. Estimated peak winds with this tornado were 115 mph.

An EF-2 tornado struck far eastern portions of Posey County, IN, in the St. Wendel area. This tornado began by damaging an outbuilding on Spahn Rd. Significant roof damage occurred to a home on Will Rd, with several homes losing their entire roof on Saint Wendel Cynthiana Rd. The tornado crossed over to Vanderburgh County north of St. Wendel continuing all the way through Vanderburgh into Warrick County. Peak estimated wind gusts with this tornado as a whole and in Posey County were 120 mph.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

4 minutes of warning. NWS PAH issued a tornado warning for this county at 10:26 UTC, 4 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 10:42 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 07:12 UTC and running to 11:21 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 06:00 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Carmi (CUL), 19 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Evansville,IN radar (KVWX), 26 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 10:32 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2024 tornado in IllinoisEvery tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in Illinois nowThe forecast where you are

68 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 69 of them

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.