Tornadoes · United States · Indiana · 2004
F1 tornado, Clarksville, Indiana, May 30, 2004
This F1 tornado ran 2.0 miles across Clark County on May 30, 2004, touching down at 3:30 PM EDT and reaching 10 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $500,000 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.
F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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
- F1
- Date
- May 30, 2004
- Touchdown
- 3:30 PM EDT (19:30 UTC)
- Path length
- 2.0 miles (3.2 km)
- Path width
- 10 yards (9 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $500,000
- County
- Clark County
- Touchdown point
- 38.320, -85.770
- Lift-off point
- 38.280, -85.720
- Record number
- 967
What the Weather Service recorded
A very narrow F1 tornado moved through Clarksville and Jeffersonville. It touched down in Old Clarksville by the floodwall at the end of Arlington Drive. It moved east northeast through a residential area, causing mainly F0 damage to trees and some F1 roof damage to homes. It crossed Interstate 65 between exits 1 and 2, and moved into Jeffersonville. The tornado reached its maximum strength in the Martin Circle area, where it ripped a section off the roof of a community center, and tossed it into a nearby house. It next moved into an industrial park and did some roof damage to commercial buildings and businesses. The tornado crossed 10th Street and moved into another residential area, doing some more F0 damage to trees. It lifted near the end of Plaza Drive in Jeffersonville.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
15 minutes of warning. NWS LMK issued a tornado warning for this county at 19:15 UTC, 15 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 19:45 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19:15 UTC | 19:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | LMK |
| 19:44 UTC | 20:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | LMK |
| 20:44 UTC | 21:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | LMK |
| 21:22 UTC | 23:15 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | LMK |
| 03:07 UTC | 03:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LMK |
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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:38 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), 12:00Z
7.5 hours before the tornado, 210 km from the path. May 30, 2004.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 58 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -139 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 799 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 37 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 17 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 112 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 142 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.2
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.3 K/km
Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), 00:00Z
4.5 hours after it, 210 km from the path. May 31, 2004.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 778 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -28 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 535 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 710 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 52 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 29 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 316 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 399 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.7
- Supercell composite
- 9.6
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.9 K/km
The surface observations
Louisville/Bowman (LOU), 11 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17:53 UTC | 81 | 75 | 180° 8 kt | 1007.8 | ||
| 18:12 UTC | 80.6 | 73.4 | 170° 9 kt | 1007.5 | ||
| 18:41 UTC | 82.4 | 75.2 | 190° 10 kt | 1006.4 | ||
| 18:45 UTC | 82.4 | 75.2 | 180° 8 kt | 1006.4 | VCTS | |
| 18:53 UTC | 82 | 74 | 180° 8 kt | 1006.4 | VCTS | |
| 19:00 UTC | 80.6 | 73.4 | 200° 8 kt | 1006.4 | -TSRA | |
| 19:53 UTC | 80 | 75 | 4 kt | 1005.8 | TSRA | |
| 20:36 UTC | 78.8 | 75.2 | 70° 5 kt | 1005.1 | TS BR | |
| 20:44 UTC | 78.8 | 75.2 | 160° 9 kt | 1004.7 | TSRA BR | |
| 20:53 UTC | 78 | 75 | 5 kt | 1005.4 | TSRA BR | |
| 21:09 UTC | 75.2 | 73.4 | 5 kt | 16 | 1005.8 | +TSRA BR |
| 21:24 UTC | 73.4 | 71.6 | 0° 0 kt | 1005.4 | -TSRA BR |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Louisville radar (KLVX), 40 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:30 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.
What was reported nearby
Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:35 UTC | TORNADO | Jeffersonville | Clark, IN | TORNADO AT INTERSECTION OF SPRING AND EASTERN AND 10TH AND MAIN IN JEFFERSONVILLE. |
| 19:38 UTC | TORNADO | 1 W New Albany | Floyd, IN | STATE POLICE REPORT TORNADO ON GRAOUND AT MILE MARKER 14 ALONG INTERSTATE 64. |
| 19:40 UTC | TORNADO | Edwardsville | Floyd, IN | OFFICERS TRACKING TORNADO VICINITY EDWARDSVILLE. |
| 19:40 UTC | TORNADO | Georgetown | Floyd, IN | TORNADO ON GROUND VICINITY OF GEORGETOWN. |
| 19:43 UTC | TORNADO | E Marengo | Crawford, IN | TORNADO ON GROUND 1/2 MILE EAST OF MARENGO. |
| 19:43 UTC | TORNADO | Marengo | Crawford, IN | TORNADO ON GROUND WITH INJURIES. NUMBER UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME. |
| 19:43 UTC | TORNADO | Marengo | Crawford, IN | *** 1 FATAL *** DELAYED REPORT...I FATALITY AND NUMEROUS INJURIES FROM TORNADO THAT TOUCHED DOWN IN MARENGO. |
| 19:52 UTC | TORNADO | Milltown | Crawford, IN | TORNADO ON GROUND. |
| 19:52 UTC | TORNADO | Milltown | Crawford, IN | |
| 20:10 UTC | TORNADO | Becks Mill | Washington, IN | TORNADO ON THE GROUND. |
| 20:10 UTC | TORNADO | W Salem | Washington, IN | CONFIRMED TORNADO ON GROUND JUST WEST OF SALEM. |
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 May 30, 2004
80 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 30 | 1:42 AM CDT | F0 | Wagoner, OK | 3.5 | 300 | $10,000 | ||
| May 30 | 1:51 AM CDT | F1 | Mayes, OK | 7.2 | 600 | $30,000 | ||
| May 30 | 6:45 AM CDT | F1 | Grundy, TN | 1.0 | 10 | $30,000 | ||
| May 30 | 9:37 AM CDT | F0 | Tazewell, IL | 0.1 | 10 | |||
| May 30 | 12:15 PM CDT | F0 | McCracken, KY | 1.5 | 50 | $20,000 | ||
| May 30 | 1:05 PM EST | F1 | Owen, IN | 8.4 | 75 | $300,000 | ||
| May 30 | 1:33 PM EST | F0 | Fountain, IN | 0.1 | 30 | |||
| May 30 | 2:09 PM EST | F1 | Monroe, IN | 7.0 | 75 | $250,000 | ||
| May 30 | 2:18 PM CDT | F0 | Lee, IA | 0.3 | 40 | $3,000 | ||
| May 30 | 2:22 PM CDT | F0 | Todd, KY | 0.5 | 50 | |||
| May 30 | 2:23 PM CDT | F1 | Lee, IA | 0.3 | 70 | $20,000 | ||
| May 30 | 2:25 PM EST | F3 | Crawford, IN | 15.0 | 400 | 1 | 11 | $5.0 million |
| May 30 | 2:26 PM CDT | F0 | Lee, IA | 0.3 | 40 | $10,000 | ||
| May 30 | 2:30 PM CDT | F1 | Lee, IA | 0.5 | 70 | $20,000 | ||
| May 30 | 3:40 PM EDT | F0 | Floyd, IN | 3.8 | 10 | |||
| May 30 | 2:40 PM CDT | F2 | Hopkins, KY | 7.0 | 175 | $300,000 | ||
| May 30 | 3:10 PM EST | F1 | Washington, IN | 10.6 | 30 | $120,000 | ||
| May 30 | 3:12 PM CDT | F0 | Daviess, KY | 0.1 | 30 | |||
| May 30 | 3:23 PM CDT | F0 | Shannon, MO | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 30 | 3:28 PM CDT | F0 | Benton, IA | 0.2 | 40 | |||
| May 30 | 3:35 PM CDT | F0 | Sherburne, MN | 0.5 | 30 | |||
| May 30 | 3:36 PM CDT | F1 | Iowa, IA | 0.2 | 50 | $10,000 | ||
| May 30 | 3:50 PM CDT | F0 | Buchanan, IA | 0.2 | 30 | |||
| May 30 | 3:51 PM CDT | F0 | Buchanan, IA | 0.3 | 40 | $10,000 | ||
| May 30 | 3:53 PM CDT | F1 | Laclede, MO | 1.0 | 200 | $10,000 | ||
| May 30 | 3:56 PM CDT | F0 | Jones, IA | 0.3 | 30 | |||
| May 30 | 4:05 PM CDT | F1 | Madison, IL | 2.0 | 70 | |||
| May 30 | 5:27 PM EDT | F0 | Jefferson, KY | 0.3 | 30 | $100,000 | ||
| May 30 | 4:50 PM CDT | F1 | Clinton, IL | 7.0 | 80 | |||
| May 30 | 4:55 PM EST | F0 | Clay, IN | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| May 30 | 5:05 PM CDT | F1 | Woodford, IL | 9.0 | 75 | |||
| May 30 | 5:10 PM CDT | F0 | Fayette, IL | 0.1 | 40 | |||
| May 30 | 5:20 PM CDT | F1 | Saint Louis, MO | 2.0 | 50 | 1 | $100,000 | |
| May 30 | 5:45 PM CDT | F0 | Reynolds, MO | 0.1 | 40 | |||
| May 30 | 5:57 PM CDT | F0 | Logan, IL | 0.1 | 40 | 3 | $250,000 | |
| May 30 | 6:00 PM EST | F0 | Morgan, IN | 0.1 | 50 | $10,000 | ||
| May 30 | 7:05 PM EDT | F0 | Powell, KY | 0.1 | 17 | |||
| May 30 | 6:10 PM EST | F1 | Morgan, IN | 5.0 | 75 | $20,000 | ||
| May 30 | 6:11 PM CDT | F1 | Livingston, IL | 12.0 | 50 | |||
| May 30 | 6:12 PM CDT | F0 | Livingston, IL | 0.2 | 20 | |||
| May 30 | 6:24 PM CDT | F1 | Washington, IL | 4.5 | 70 | |||
| May 30 | 6:25 PM CDT | F1 | Washington, IL | 3.5 | 80 | |||
| May 30 | 6:25 PM CDT | F1 | Perry, IL | 12.0 | 75 | $250,000 | ||
| May 30 | 6:26 PM CDT | F1 | Washington, IL | 4.0 | 100 | |||
| May 30 | 6:27 PM CDT | F1 | Washington, IL | 4.5 | 70 | |||
| May 30 | 6:28 PM CDT | F1 | Washington, IL | 18.5 | 75 | $100,000 | ||
| May 30 | 6:30 PM EST | F0 | Hendricks, IN | 0.8 | 50 | |||
| May 30 | 6:32 PM CDT | F0 | Livingston, IL | 0.2 | 20 | |||
| May 30 | 6:32 PM CDT | F0 | Jackson, IL | 0.5 | 50 | |||
| May 30 | 6:32 PM EST | F0 | Hendricks, IN | 4.1 | 75 | |||
| May 30 | 6:40 PM CDT | F0 | Livingston, IL | 1.0 | 20 | |||
| May 30 | 7:00 PM CDT | F1 | Nevada, AR | 10.0 | 100 | $80,000 | ||
| May 30 | 7:00 PM EST | F2 | Marion, IN | 20.0 | 100 | 26 | $19 million | |
| May 30 | 7:13 PM CDT | F0 | Clay, IL | 0.2 | 50 | |||
| May 30 | 7:19 PM CDT | F0 | Clay, IL | 0.2 | 50 | |||
| May 30 | 7:26 PM EST | F0 | Tippecanoe, IN | 0.1 | 20 | |||
| May 30 | 7:28 PM CDT | F0 | Goodhue, MN | 0.5 | 25 | |||
| May 30 | 7:28 PM CDT | F0 | Chisago, MN | 0.3 | 25 | |||
| May 30 | 7:29 PM EST | F2 | Tippecanoe, IN | 1.8 | 75 | $1.0 million | ||
| May 30 | 7:32 PM CDT | F0 | Newton, IN | 2.5 | 20 |
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.