Tornadoes · United States · Indiana · 1974

F5 Depauw–Palmyra tornado, Indiana, April 3, 1974

This F5 tornado ran 68.0 miles across Perry, Crawford, Harrison and Washington counties on April 3, 1974, touching down at 2:20 PM EST and reaching 10 yards wide. It killed 6 people and injured 86, and did $50 million to $500 million of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

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

  2. F173 to 112 mph

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

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    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. F3158 to 206 mph

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

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

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

  6. F5261 to 318 mphthis tornado

    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.

The record

Rating
F5
Date
April 3, 1974
Touchdown
2:20 PM EST (19:20 UTC)
Path length
68.0 miles (109.4 km)
Path width
10 yards (9 m)
Deaths
6
Injuries
86
Property damage
$50 million to $500 million
Counties
Perry, Crawford, Harrison and Washington counties
Touchdown point
38.070, -86.750
Lift-off point
38.630, -85.700
Record number
115

The damage survey

8 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LMK, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF5. The highest wind the damage implies is 70 mph.

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

What the Weather Service recorded

The deaths

5 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

AgeSexWhereKind
Direct

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

The air that afternoon

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.

Salem-Leckrone, IL (KSLO), 12:00Z

7.3 hours before the tornado, 235 km from the path. April 3, 1974.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Salem-Leckrone, IL at 12:00Z on 1974-04-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 425 joules per kilogram, CIN -57, lifted condensation level 767 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Salem-Leckrone, IL at 12:00Z on 1974-04-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 171 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 52 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
425 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-57 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
767 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
171 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
157 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Salem-Leckrone, IL (KSLO), 00:00Z

4.7 hours after it, 235 km from the path. April 4, 1974.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Salem-Leckrone, IL at 00:00Z on 1974-04-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -9982, lifted condensation level 2851 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Salem-Leckrone, IL at 00:00Z on 1974-04-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -78 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 94 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9982 J/kg
Surface CAPE
265 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2851 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
94 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-78 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
108 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 1974 tornado in IndianaEvery tornado in Indiana since 1950Warnings in force in Indiana nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 3, 1974

127 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 39:00 AM EDTF1Burke, NC6.910$5,000 to $50,000
April 39:30 AM ESTF2Boone, IN0.150
April 32:00 PM EDTF2Gilmer, GA15.62005$500,000 to $5 million
April 31:10 PM CDTF0Grundy, IL0.110
April 33:05 PM EDTF3Bradley, TN18.13501100$50,000 to $500,000
April 32:07 PM CDTF0McLean, IL0.110
April 32:08 PM CDTF1Logan, IL16.7177$500,000 to $5 million
April 32:15 PM ESTF1Orange, IN14.0177$50,000 to $500,000
April 33:30 PM EDTF5Xenia tornado, OH31.3533361150$50 million to $500 million
April 32:30 PM ESTF3Lawrence, IN35.8177126$5 million to $50 million
April 32:30 PM CDTF3Macon, IL20.9350126$500,000 to $5 million
April 32:30 PM CDTF3McLean, IL7.4350$50,000 to $500,000
April 32:45 PM ESTF3Shelby, IN20.7440125$5 million to $50 million
April 32:45 PM CDTF1Christian, IL8.570$50,000 to $500,000
April 34:00 PM EDTF2Blount, TN0.5502$50,000 to $500,000
April 33:00 PM ESTF4Kennard tornado, IN18.91017$5 million to $50 million
April 33:01 PM ESTF4Bartholomew, IN35.61,200417$5 million to $50 million
April 33:10 PM CDTF1Piatt, IL10.920$500 to $5,000
April 33:19 PM CDTF4Hanover–Madison tornado, IN35.61,20011190$50 million to $500 million
April 33:20 PM CDTF5Brandenburg tornado, KY32.044031270$500,000 to $5 million
April 33:25 PM CDTF0Piatt, IL3.320$500 to $5,000
April 34:30 PM EDTF1McMinn, TN3.627132$500 to $5,000
April 33:35 PM ESTF4Henry, IN18.01,400112$5 million to $50 million
April 33:40 PM ESTF4Jefferson, IN27.11,133104$5 million to $50 million
April 33:48 PM CDTF3Champaign, IL5.9701$50,000 to $500,000
April 34:50 PM EDTF1Hamilton, TN5.9272$5,000 to $50,000
April 34:55 PM EDTF2Madison, OH15.7180$50,000 to $500,000
April 33:55 PM CDTF3Champaign, IL14.9350$50,000 to $500,000
April 35:00 PM EDTF1Transylvania, NC1.030$5,000 to $50,000
April 34:00 PM CDTF4Grayson, KY14.01502$50 to $500
April 34:00 PM CDTF1Robertson, TN4.327$5,000 to $50,000
April 34:20 PM CDTF5Sayler Park tornado, Ohio20.85333210
April 34:25 PM CDTF2Vermilion, IL7.817712$500,000 to $5 million
April 35:28 PM EDTF4Hamilton, OH19.8350239$50,000 to $500,000
April 34:30 PM CDTF2Jefferson, AL1.0800$5,000 to $50,000
April 34:30 PM ESTF3Warren, IN25.9700$50,000 to $500,000
April 34:30 PM CDTF1Coles, IL14.890$5,000 to $50,000
April 34:37 PM CDTF4Louisville tornado, KY18.5103225
April 34:45 PM ESTF4Monticello tornado, IN108.71,76018285$50 million to $500 million
April 35:45 PM EDTF4Elizabethtown tornado, KY37.910381$50,000 to $500,000
April 34:45 PM CDTF3Simpson, KY31.110357$500,000 to $5 million
April 36:00 PM EDTF1Cherokee, NC0.110
April 36:00 PM EDTF2Warren, OH9.81779$500,000 to $5 million
April 36:00 PM EDTF2Loudon, TN0.11002$50,000 to $500,000
April 36:00 PM EDTF2Monroe, TN1.0200$50,000 to $500,000
April 35:00 PM CDTF3Jones, MS12.01001$50,000 to $500,000
April 36:05 PM EDTF2Franklin, OH5.190$50,000 to $500,000
April 36:15 PM EDTF1Henry, KY31.71018$5,000 to $50,000
April 36:15 PM EDTF3Bradley, TN21.2500350$50,000 to $500,000
April 36:18 PM EDTF1Pickaway, OH1.0107$5,000 to $50,000
April 35:18 PM CDTF2Davidson, TN4.7400$500,000 to $5 million
April 35:21 PM CDTF1Calhoun, AL1.0800$500 to $5,000
April 35:30 PM CDTF1Maury, TN7.9100$5,000 to $50,000
April 36:40 PM EDTF4Resaca tornado, GA29.5200967$500,000 to $5 million
April 35:40 PM CDTF4Green, KY20.21056$500,000 to $5 million
April 36:50 PM EDTF4Anderson, KY79.4104122$50,000 to $500,000
April 35:50 PM CDTF2Cleburne, AL to GA65.9150120$500,000 to $5 million
April 36:00 PM CDTF2Trousdale, TN15.8300$500,000 to $5 million
April 36:00 PM CDTF1Marshall, TN12.92004$5,000 to $50,000
April 36:10 PM CDTF3Rutherford, TN15.9100$500 to $5,000

All 128 of them

What this means

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.

Sources

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