EF2 tornado, Peoga to Mt Auburn, Indiana, June 3, 2008

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

June 3, 2008

Touchdown

9:24 PM EDT (01:24 UTC)

Lifted

9:47 PM EDT (01:47 UTC)

On the ground

23 minutes

Path length

10.6 miles (17.0 km)

Path width

150 yards (137 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

4

Property damage

$23 million

Counties

Brown, Johnson and Shelby counties

Touchdown point

39.335, -86.138

Lift-off point

39.362, -85.942

Record number

0806031924-01

A powerful weather system moved through central Indiana on the night of June 3rd. Associated with this system were damaging straight line thunderstorm winds and tornadoes. Three tornadoes developed from supercells. An EF-1 tornado moved through Decatur County, an EF-2 tornado moved through Brown and Johnson Counties, and then weakened to an EF-1 in Shelby County, and another tornado began as an EF-0 in Shelby County and intensified to an EF-3 in Rush County.

In Brown County near Peoga damaged occurred to twenty to thirty homes, a barn, powerlines, trees, and a carport due to a tornado. One indirect injury occurred when I firefighter suffered heat stroke. In Johnson County at Camp Atterbury forty buildings were damaged, dozens of vehicles including a 6,000 pound Humvee and a bus were tossed and crushed, the chapel was damaged, and a trailer was tossed on top of a building. Also in Johnson County in Edinburgh 59 buildings were damaged or destroyed. One woman suffered an ankle injury during the tornado. Damaged occurred in Shelby County to a gas station. One woman at the gas station sustained minor injuries when her car windows were blown out. The tornado touched down at 2024 EST in Brown County near the intersection of Sweetwater Trail and Beech Tree Road. The tornado tracked to the northeast for 2.83 miles before crossing into Johnson County approximately 1000 feet west of County Road 900 at 2030 EST. The tornado continued to track to the northeast for 7.19 miles until 2046 EST when the tornado entered Shelby County just south of the County Road 900 and West State Road 252 intersection. The tornado lifted at 2047 EST in Shelby County after tracking to the northeast and lifting at exit 80 on Interstate 65. The tornado was an EF-2 while in Brown County causing 200 thousand dollars in damage. The tornado was an EF-2 while in Johnson County causing 23 million dollars in damage. The tornado weakened to an EF-1 while in Shelby County causing 15 thousand dollars in damage. Based on damage indicators, at the tornadoes peak intensity wind speeds were around 130 miles per hour. The tornado formed from a supercell and was on the ground for 23 minutes or 10.59 miles.

In Brown County near Peoga damaged occurred to twenty to thirty homes, a barn, powerlines, trees, and a carport due to a tornado. One indirect injury occurred when I firefighter suffered heat stroke. In Johnson County at Camp Atterbury forty buildings were damaged, dozens of vehicles including a 6,000 pound Humvee and a bus were tossed and crushed, the chapel was damaged, and a trailer was tossed on top of a building. Also in Johnson County in Edinburgh 59 buildings were damaged or destroyed. One woman suffered an ankle injury during the tornado. Damaged occurred in Shelby County to a gas station. One woman at the gas station sustained minor injuries when her car windows were blown out. The tornado touched down at 2024 EST in Brown County near the intersection of Sweetwater Trail and Beech Tree Road. The tornado tracked to the northeast for 2.83 miles before crossing into Johnson County approximately 1000 feet west of County Road 900 at 2030 EST. The tornado continued to track to the northeast for 7.19 miles until 2046 EST when the tornado entered Shelby County just south of the County Road 900 and West State Road 252 intersection. The tornado lifted at 2047 EST in Shelby County after tracking to the northeast and lifting at exit 80 on Interstate 65. The tornado was an EF-2 while in Brown County causing 200 thousand dollars in damage. The tornado was an EF-2 while in Johnson County causing 23 million dollars in damage. The tornado weakened to an EF-1 while in Shelby County causing 15 thousand dollars in damage. Based on damage indicators, at the tornadoes peak intensity wind speeds were around 130 miles per hour. The tornado formed from a supercell and was on the ground for 23 minutes or 10.59 miles.

In Brown County near Peoga damaged occurred to twenty to thirty homes, a barn, powerlines, trees, and a carport due to a tornado. One indirect injury occurred when I firefighter suffered heat stroke. In Johnson County at Camp Atterbury forty buildings were damaged, dozens of vehicles including a 6,000 pound Humvee and a bus were tossed and crushed, the chapel was damaged, and a trailer was tossed on top of a building. Also in Johnson County in Edinburgh 59 buildings were damaged or destroyed. One woman suffered an ankle injury during the tornado. Damaged occurred in Shelby County to a gas station. One woman at the gas station sustained minor injuries when her car windows were blown out. The tornado touched down at 2024 EST in Brown County near the intersection of Sweetwater Trail and Beech Tree Road. The tornado tracked to the northeast for 2.83 miles before crossing into Johnson County approximately 1000 feet west of County Road 900 at 2030 EST. The tornado continued to track to the northeast for 7.19 miles until 2046 EST when the tornado entered Shelby County just south of the County Road 900 and West State Road 252 intersection. The tornado lifted at 2047 EST in Shelby County after tracking to the northeast and lifting at exit 80 on Interstate 65. The tornado was an EF-2 while in Brown County causing 200 thousand dollars in damage. The tornado was an EF-2 while in Johnson County causing 23 million dollars in damage. The tornado weakened to an EF-1 while in Shelby County causing 15 thousand dollars in damage. Based on damage indicators, at the tornadoes peak intensity wind speeds were around 130 miles per hour. The tornado formed from a supercell and was on the ground for 23 minutes or 10.59 miles.

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

16 minutes of warning. NWS IND issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:08 UTC, 16 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 00:43 UTC and running to 07:00 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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:01 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.

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 2008 tornado in IndianaEvery tornado in Indiana since 1950Warnings in force in Indiana nowThe forecast where you are

11 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.