Tornadoes · United States · Indiana · 2004

F0 tornado, Hendricks and Marion counties, Indiana, May 30, 2004

This F0 tornado ran 4.1 miles across Hendricks and Marion counties on May 30, 2004, touching down at 6:32 PM EST and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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
May 30, 2004
Touchdown
6:32 PM EST (23:32 UTC)
Path length
4.1 miles (6.6 km)
Path width
75 yards (69 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Counties
Hendricks and Marion counties
Touchdown point
39.630, -86.350
Lift-off point
39.650, -86.280
Record number
1133

The warnings

4 minutes of warning. NWS IND issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:28 UTC, 4 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
18:15 UTC19:00 UTCTornado WarningIND
19:33 UTC20:15 UTCTornado WarningIND
22:45 UTC23:30 UTCTornado WarningIND
23:28 UTC00:00 UTCTornado WarningIND
01:25 UTC02:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningIND
02:21 UTC07:15 UTCFlash Flood 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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 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.

Lincoln, IL (KILX), 12:00Z

11.5 hours before the tornado, 203 km from the path. May 30, 2004.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2004-05-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1629 joules per kilogram, CIN -53, lifted condensation level 569 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, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2004-05-30The 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 201 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 46 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
1629 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-53 J/kg
Surface CAPE
643 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
569 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
201 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
177 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.4
Supercell composite
8.9
0-3 km lapse rate
5.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Lincoln, IL (KILX), 00:00Z

0.5 hours after it, 203 km from the path. May 31, 2004.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2004-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 7 joules per kilogram, CIN -270, lifted condensation level 845 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, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2004-05-31The 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 -89 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 51 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
7 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-270 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
845 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-89 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-31 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.5 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
22:23 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Nw CloverdalePutnam, INTREES AND POWER LINES DOWN IN PUTNAMVILLE
23:00 UTCTORNADO12 Wsw MooresvilleMorgan, INSPOTTER REPORTS TOUCHDOWN NEAR LITTLE POINT JUST SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 70.
23:09 UTCHAIL 0.884 S ClaytonHendricks, INNICKEL HAIL REPORTED 6 NORTH OF MONROVIA IN HENDRICKS COUNTY.
23:09 UTCTORNADO4 Sw MooresvilleMorgan, IN
23:14 UTCTORNADO6 Sw MooresvilleMorgan, INSPOTTER REPORTS TORNADO ON THE GROUND NEAR MONROVIA.
23:31 UTCTORNADO3 W MooresvilleMorgan, INSPOTTER REPORTS A TORNADO ON THE GROUND IN MOORESVILLE.
23:31 UTCTORNADO3 W MooresvilleMorgan, IN
23:32 UTCTORNADO4 Se PlainfieldMarion, INSPOTTER REPORTS TORNADO NEAR CAMBY ALONG HENDRICKS AND MARION COUNTY LINE.
23:44 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 N MooresvilleHendricks, INSPOTTER REPORTS LARGE LIVE TREE DOWN ACROSS STATE ROAD 267 ONE HALF MILE NORTH OF COUNTY LINE ROAD. POSSIBLY ASSOCIATED WITH TORNADO REPORTS.
23:45 UTCTORNADO12 Sw IndianapolisMarion, INPOWER FLASHES FROM TORNADO OBSERVED BY NWS STAFF JUST SOUTH OF INDIANAPOLIS OFFICE.
23:49 UTCTORNADO10 Sw IndianapolisMarion, INSTATE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT REPORTS TORNADO ON THE GROUND AT 5410 SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL ROAD.
00:00 UTCTORNADO7 S IndianapolisMarion, INTORNADO REPORTED ON THE GROUND AT STATE ROAD 37 AND SOUTHPORT ROAD.
00:09 UTCTORNADO6 S IndianapolisMarion, INTORNADO REPORTED JUST SOUTH OF THOMPSON ROAD AND MADISON ROAD.
00:10 UTCTORNADO5 Sse IndianapolisMarion, INTORNADO REPORTED BY STATE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AT THOMPSON AND HARDING ROADS WITH SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE.
00:21 UTCTORNADO4 Se IndianapolisMarion, ININDIANAPOLIS POLICE REPORT TORNADO ON THE GROUND AND HEAVY DAMAGE IN THE AREA OF INTERSTATE 65 AND KEYSTONE AVENUE.
00:29 UTCTORNADOIndianapolisMarion, INTORNADO AT EMERSON AND PROSPECT ROADS ON THE SOUTH SIDE AT INDIANAPOLIS.
00:34 UTCTORNADO4 E IndianapolisMarion, INSTATE POLICE REPORTS TORNADO ON THE GROUND AT BROOKVILLE AND KENTLEY ROADS.
00:34 UTCTORNADO4 Se IndianapolisMarion, INTORNADO ON THE GROUND AT SOUTHPORT AND MCFARLAND ROADS.
00:40 UTCTORNADO5 E IndianapolisMarion, INSTATE POLICE REPORTS TORNADO ON THE GROUND JUST SOUTH OF WASHINGTON STREET AND INTERSTATE 465 NEAR WASHINGTON SQUARE.
00:46 UTCTORNADO7 E IndianapolisMarion, INSPOTTER REPORTS TORNADO ON THE GROUND AT INTERSTATE 70 AND GERMAN CHURCH ROAD.
00:50 UTCTORNADO7 Nw GreenfieldHancock, INRADIO SPOTTER REPORTS TORNADO ON THE GROUND ONE MILE NORTHWEST OF MOUNT COMFORT AIRPORT.
00:56 UTCTORNADO8 Nnw GreenfieldHancock, INTORNADO ON THE GROUND NORTH OF MOUNT COMFORT AIRPORT.
01:47 UTCTSTM WND GST 0NoblesvilleHamilton, INWIDESPREAD 60 MPH WIND GUSTS REPORTED ACROSS COUNTY.
02:25 UTCTSTM WND DMGBloomingtonMonroe, INTREES DOWN/WINDOWS BROKEN IN HOME

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.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 301:42 AM CDTF0Wagoner, OK3.5300$10,000
May 301:51 AM CDTF1Mayes, OK7.2600$30,000
May 306:45 AM CDTF1Grundy, TN1.010$30,000
May 309:37 AM CDTF0Tazewell, IL0.110
May 3012:15 PM CDTF0McCracken, KY1.550$20,000
May 301:05 PM ESTF1Owen, IN8.475$300,000
May 301:33 PM ESTF0Fountain, IN0.130
May 302:09 PM ESTF1Monroe, IN7.075$250,000
May 302:18 PM CDTF0Lee, IA0.340$3,000
May 302:22 PM CDTF0Todd, KY0.550
May 302:23 PM CDTF1Lee, IA0.370$20,000
May 302:25 PM ESTF3Crawford, IN15.0400111$5.0 million
May 302:26 PM CDTF0Lee, IA0.340$10,000
May 302:30 PM CDTF1Lee, IA0.570$20,000
May 303:30 PM EDTF1Clark, IN2.010$500,000
May 303:40 PM EDTF0Floyd, IN3.810
May 302:40 PM CDTF2Hopkins, KY7.0175$300,000
May 303:10 PM ESTF1Washington, IN10.630$120,000
May 303:12 PM CDTF0Daviess, KY0.130
May 303:23 PM CDTF0Shannon, MO0.150
May 303:28 PM CDTF0Benton, IA0.240
May 303:35 PM CDTF0Sherburne, MN0.530
May 303:36 PM CDTF1Iowa, IA0.250$10,000
May 303:50 PM CDTF0Buchanan, IA0.230
May 303:51 PM CDTF0Buchanan, IA0.340$10,000
May 303:53 PM CDTF1Laclede, MO1.0200$10,000
May 303:56 PM CDTF0Jones, IA0.330
May 304:05 PM CDTF1Madison, IL2.070
May 305:27 PM EDTF0Jefferson, KY0.330$100,000
May 304:50 PM CDTF1Clinton, IL7.080
May 304:55 PM ESTF0Clay, IN0.125
May 305:05 PM CDTF1Woodford, IL9.075
May 305:10 PM CDTF0Fayette, IL0.140
May 305:20 PM CDTF1Saint Louis, MO2.0501$100,000
May 305:45 PM CDTF0Reynolds, MO0.140
May 305:57 PM CDTF0Logan, IL0.1403$250,000
May 306:00 PM ESTF0Morgan, IN0.150$10,000
May 307:05 PM EDTF0Powell, KY0.117
May 306:10 PM ESTF1Morgan, IN5.075$20,000
May 306:11 PM CDTF1Livingston, IL12.050
May 306:12 PM CDTF0Livingston, IL0.220
May 306:24 PM CDTF1Washington, IL4.570
May 306:25 PM CDTF1Washington, IL3.580
May 306:25 PM CDTF1Perry, IL12.075$250,000
May 306:26 PM CDTF1Washington, IL4.0100
May 306:27 PM CDTF1Washington, IL4.570
May 306:28 PM CDTF1Washington, IL18.575$100,000
May 306:30 PM ESTF0Hendricks, IN0.850
May 306:32 PM CDTF0Livingston, IL0.220
May 306:32 PM CDTF0Jackson, IL0.550
May 306:40 PM CDTF0Livingston, IL1.020
May 307:00 PM CDTF1Nevada, AR10.0100$80,000
May 307:00 PM ESTF2Marion, IN20.010026$19 million
May 307:13 PM CDTF0Clay, IL0.250
May 307:19 PM CDTF0Clay, IL0.250
May 307:26 PM ESTF0Tippecanoe, IN0.120
May 307:28 PM CDTF0Goodhue, MN0.525
May 307:28 PM CDTF0Chisago, MN0.325
May 307:29 PM ESTF2Tippecanoe, IN1.875$1.0 million
May 307:32 PM CDTF0Newton, IN2.520

All 81 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.