Tornadoes · United States · Indiana · 2004

F0 tornado, Madison County, Indiana, April 20, 2004

This F0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Madison County on April 20, 2004, touching down at 7:24 PM EST and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $180,000 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 mphthis tornado

    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 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.

The record

Rating
F0
Date
April 20, 2004
Touchdown
7:24 PM EST (00:24 UTC)
Path length
0.2 miles (0.3 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$180,000
County
Madison County
Touchdown point
40.320, -85.830
Lift-off point
40.330, -85.830
Record number
833

The warnings

24 minutes of warning. NWS IND issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:00 UTC, 24 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
00:00 UTC01:00 UTCTornado WarningIND

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 forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 19:58 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 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.

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), 00:00Z

0.4 hours before the tornado, 200 km from the path. April 21, 2004.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 2004-04-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 333 joules per kilogram, CIN -5, lifted condensation level 1050 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 2004-04-21The 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 181 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 42 knots.193958Sfc1 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
333 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1472 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1050 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
181 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
369 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
5.0
0-3 km lapse rate
7.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), 12:00Z

11.6 hours after it, 200 km from the path. April 21, 2004.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 2004-04-21Temperature 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 -196, lifted condensation level 955 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 2004-04-21The 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 185 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 38 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-196 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
955 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
185 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
166 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
22:10 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD5 Se FrankfortClinton, IN
22:10 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD5 Se FrankfortClinton, IN
22:22 UTCTSTM WND DMGFrankfortClinton, INSTRUCTURAL DAMAGE IN CLINTON COUNTY. EXACT LOCATION UNKNOWN.
22:22 UTCTSTM WND DMGFrankfortClinton, INSTRUCTURAL DAMAGE IN CLINTON COUNTY. EXACT LOCATION UNKNOWN.
22:40 UTCTORNADO6 Ene FrankfortClinton, INTORNADO NEAR 1100E AND 500N COUNTY ROAD.
22:40 UTCTORNADO6 Ene FrankfortClinton, INTORNADO NEAR 1100E AND 500N COUNTY ROAD.
23:10 UTCTORNADO3 N KokomoHoward, INTOUCHDOWN NEAR JEFFERSON AND APERSON ON NORTH SIDE OF KOKOMO.
23:10 UTCTORNADO3 N KokomoHoward, INTOUCHDOWN NEAR JEFFERSON AND APERSON ON NORTH SIDE OF KOKOMO.
23:24 UTCTORNADO 0AmboyMiami, INTORNADO SKIPPED...NOT ON GROUND ALL THE TIME. SPOTTERS REPORTED SEVERAL BRIEF TOUCHDOWNS OVER MAINLY OPEN FIELDS. SOME TREE AND TREE LIMB DAMAGE. TRACK LENGTH 1 MILE. WIDTH 50 YARDS.
23:24 UTCTORNADOAmboyMiami, IN
23:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGKokomoHoward, INROOF BLOWN OFF OF SKATING RINK AT STATE ROAD 31 AND MORGAN ST.
23:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGKokomoHoward, INROOF BLOWN OFF OF SKATING RINK AT STATE ROAD 31 AND MORGAN ST.
23:53 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD8 S WabashWabash, INTWO FUNNEL CLOUDS REPORTED IN THE VICINITY OF SOMERSET NEAR MISSISSINEWA LAKE.
23:53 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD8 S WabashWabash, INTWO FUNNEL CLOUDS REPORTED IN THE VICINITY OF SOMERSET NEAR MISSISSINEWA LAKE.
00:05 UTCTORNADO 13 Ne La FontaineWabash, INTORNADO OBSERVED TOUCHING DOWN IN FIELD 1 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LINCOLNVILLE...NEAR STATE ROUTE 124. TWO HOMES WERE HEAVILY DAMAGED. ONE BARN DESTROYED. TORNADO SKIPPED FROM THIS POINT FOR ANOTHER 1.75 MILES BEFORE LIFTING
00:05 UTCTORNADO5 Ne La FontaineWabash, INTORNADO TOUCHDOWN NEAR LINCOLNVILLE. DAMAGE REPORTED TO SEVERAL HOMES AND ONE BARN.
00:08 UTCTORNADO5 Ne La FontaineWabash, IN
00:23 UTCHAIL 0.75Gas CityGrant, IN
00:23 UTCHAIL 0.75Gas CityGrant, IN
00:25 UTCTORNADO 05 Sw HuntingtonHuntington, INTORNADO SKIPPED...NOT IN CONTACT WITH GROUND ALL THE TIME. 3.5 MILE LENGTH...50 YARDS WIDE. FIVE HOMES AND ONE BARN DAMAGED. ALSO TREE DAMAGE.
00:26 UTCTORNADO 04 Sse MarionGrant, INTORNADO SKIPPED...NOT IN CONTACT WITH GROUND AT ALL TIMES. TRACK FROM 2 MILES WEST OF FAIRMONT TO UPLAND. POWER LINES BLOWN DOWN NEAR UPLAND.
00:26 UTCTORNADO2 W FairmountGrant, IN
00:31 UTCTORNADO 012 Sw MarionGrant, INBRIEF TOUCHDOWN OBSERVED IN A FIELD NEAR POINT ISABEL. NO DAMAGE.
00:31 UTCTORNADO10 W FowlertonGrant, INTORNADO REPORTED ON THE GROUND AT POINT ISABEL
00:40 UTCTORNADOUplandGrant, INABOUT 100 YARDS OF POWERLINES DOWN

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2004 tornado in IndianaEvery tornado in Indiana since 1950Warnings in force in Indiana nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 20, 2004

31 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 202:00 PM CDTF1Douglas, IL3.950$70,000
April 202:32 PM CDTF0Champaign, IL0.150
April 205:05 PM CDTF1Stark, IL10.8440$260,000
April 205:15 PM ESTF1Clinton, IN3.850$250,000
April 205:40 PM CDTF0Knox, IL2.830
April 205:40 PM ESTF1Boone, IN2.0508$1.8 million
April 205:44 PM CDTF3Putnam, IL15.8880812$8.0 million
April 205:45 PM CDTF0Holt, NE0.220
April 205:45 PM ESTF0Boone, IN0.130$70,000
April 205:45 PM ESTF0Howard, IN0.250$500,000
April 206:00 PM ESTF1Howard, IN0.7751$3.0 million
April 206:07 PM CDTF0Holt, NE0.220
April 206:10 PM CDTF2LaSalle, IL9.0400
April 206:24 PM ESTF0Miami, IN1.050
April 206:33 PM CDTF1LaSalle, IL1.530
April 206:50 PM CDTF0LaSalle, IL2.020
April 206:52 PM CDTF0Ford, IL0.520
April 206:59 PM CDTF0Iroquois, IL5.020
April 207:08 PM CDTF0Creek, OK0.4200
April 207:08 PM CDTF1Clinton, IA1.3100$30,000
April 207:08 PM ESTF1Wabash, IN2.0150$70,000
April 207:10 PM CDTF0Grundy, IL2.020$80,000
April 207:18 PM CDTF2Kankakee, IL3.050
April 207:25 PM ESTF0Huntington, IN3.550$30,000
April 207:26 PM ESTF0Grant, IN4.0100
April 207:31 PM ESTF0Grant, IN0.250
April 207:35 PM CDTF1Kankakee, IL6.075
April 207:40 PM ESTF0Huntington, IN6.0150
April 207:45 PM CDTF1Will, IL1.6250$5.0 million
April 208:03 PM CDTF0Kankakee, IL3.020
April 208:18 PM CDTF0Will, IL1.520

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.