Tornadoes · United States · Indiana · 2017
EF1 tornado, Vienna, Indiana, March 1, 2017
This EF1 tornado ran 2.1 miles across Scott County on March 1, 2017, touching down at 6:05 AM EST and reaching 125 yards wide. It killed nobody and injured 10, and did $250,000 of property damage.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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
- EF1
- Date
- March 1, 2017
- Touchdown
- 6:05 AM EST (11:05 UTC)
- Lifted
- 6:07 AM EST (11:07 UTC)
- On the ground
- 2 minutes
- Path length
- 2.1 miles (3.5 km)
- Path width
- 125 yards (114 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 10
- Property damage
- $250,000
- County
- Scott County
- Touchdown point
- 38.627, -85.784
- Lift-off point
- 38.621, -85.745
- Record number
- 1703010505-01
The damage survey
37 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS IND and NWS LMK, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 116 mph.
- large detached garage destroyed
- metal outbuilding heavily damaged with debris fanned out from ESE to NE
- Metal roof blown off ranch home
- cinder block out building 300 yards W of this location - wall partially collapsed
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 combination of a moist and unseasonably warm air mass and an approaching low pressure system and cold front brought multiple rounds of severe weather to southern Indiana during the early morning hours on March 1. In the end, there were 5 tornadoes across southern Indiana, the strongest being an EF-2 that tracked through portions of Dubois County. In addition to the tornadoes, there were several areas of intense straight-line winds estimated up to 100 mph in places. The impacts included numerous areas of structural damage and downed trees. The widespread heavy rain brought the Muscatatuck River at Deputy into minor flood.
The National Weather Service in conjunction with Scott County Emergency Management, determined an EF-1 Tornado touched down 4 miles south of Scottsburg, on Interstate 65 at approximately mile marker 25.5. After overturning a semi tractor-trailer on the Interstate, the tornado moved east-southeast, collapsed a wall on a large cinder block building, then destroyed two metal outbuildings and flipped an unanchored mobile home on a farmstead 1/4 mile east. It continued skipping east, uprooting and snapping trees and destroying an anchored mobile home on Underwood Road. Three residents were in the home at the time when it rolled over and disintegrated. They received minor injuries. The tornado then damaged an outbuilding and numerous more trees as it headed east toward Double or Nothing Road. Near the intersection of Double or Nothing Road and Radio Tower Road, it destroyed a large garage and pushed a double-wide manufactured home off its foundation. The tornado was embedded in a 1-2 mile wide area of 60 to 80 mph winds that extended further east for over 10 miles, and may have briefly touched down within this area as well.||Within the county, this tornado and two areas of straight-line wind resulted in approximately 23 minor injuries and the closure of seven roadways across the county.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 UTC | 14:39 UTC | Flash Flood Watch | LMK |
| 02:29 UTC | 10:00 UTC | Tornado Watch | LMK |
| 06:19 UTC | 06:36 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LMK |
| 10:57 UTC | 11:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LMK |
| 11:08 UTC | 12:59 UTC | Tornado Watch | LMK |
| 11:22 UTC | 11:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LMK |
| 13:05 UTC | 14:28 UTC | Flood Advisory | LMK |
| 22:26 UTC | 04:55 UTC | Flood 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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 05:42 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
11.1 hours before the tornado, 192 km from the path. March 1, 2017.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 126 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -51 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 490 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 54 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 39 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 416 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 441 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.7
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.6 K/km
Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), 12:00Z
0.9 hours after it, 192 km from the path. March 1, 2017.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -91213 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 9 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 777 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 96 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 16 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -229 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 525 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.8 K/km
The surface observations
Madison (IMS), 30 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09:50 UTC | 62.6 | 57.2 | 200° 13 kt | 20 | 1002.7 | |
| 10:11 UTC | 62.6 | 57.2 | 200° 15 kt | 22 | 1002.4 | |
| 10:22 UTC | 62.6 | 59 | 200° 12 kt | 20 | 1002.4 | |
| 10:59 UTC | 62.6 | 59 | 180° 13 kt | 19 | 1001.4 | |
| 11:59 UTC | 53.6 | 51.8 | 290° 11 kt | 22 | 1006.1 | |
| 12:59 UTC | 53.6 | 51.8 | 250° 6 kt | 1007.8 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Louisville radar (KLVX), 74 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 11:04 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 E Mitchell | Lawrence, IN | *** 1 INJ *** 5 TURKEY BARNS DESTROYED... 2 MOBILE HOMES DAMAGED... NEAR SPRING MILL STATE PARK... TIME ESTIMATED. |
| 10:37 UTC | TORNADO | 5 Se Spring Mill State | Lawrence, IN | EF-2 TORNADO CONFIRMED. TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN SOUTHEAST OF MITCHELL AND DAMAGED OR DESTROYED SOME OUTBUILDINGS. ESTIMATED PEAK WIND OF 130MPH WITH A PATH LENGTH OF 0.58 MILES AND A MAX WIDTH OF 25 YARDS. TORNADO CONTINUED |
| 10:38 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Nw Leipsic | Orange, IN | STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS DESTROYED AN OUTBUILDING ABOUT 0.5 MILES NW OF LEIPSIC, SCATTERING DEBRIS INTO THE COMMUNITY THAT DAMAGED SEVERAL HOMES. A MICROBURST TORE PART OF THE ROOF OFF ONE HOME, FANNING DEBRIS OUT TO THE EAST |
| 10:38 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Nw Saltillo | Orange, IN | *** 1 INJ *** THIS IS AN EXTENSION OF THE LAWRENCE COUNTY EF-2 TORNADO THAT BRIEFLY CROSSED INTO ORANGE COUNTY BEFORE LIFTING. THE TORNADO PRODUCED EF-1 LEVEL DAMAGE IN ORANGE COUNTY, DESTROYING TWO MOBILE HOMES. ONE MOB |
| 10:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Wnw Chambersburg | Orange, IN | AN NWS STORM SURVEY IN CONJUNCTION WITH ORANGE COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT CONCLUDED THAT STRAIGHT LINE WINDS IMPACTED A NEARLY 2 MILE STRETCH ALONG US 150 SE OF PAOLI, IN. SPORADIC TREE DAMAGE WAS NOTED ACROSS THE COUNT |
| 10:41 UTC | TORNADO | 1 Ne Saltillo | Washington, IN | AN NWS STORM SURVEY IN CONJUNCTION WITH WASHINGTON COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT CONCLUDED THAT AN EF-1 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN, AND WAS EMBEDDED IN A LARGER FIELD OF STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS. THE TORNADO MAY HAVE BEEN AN EXTENSIO |
| 10:59 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Austin | Scott, IN | 5 INCH DIAMETER BRANCH FELL OR THROWN THROUGH ROOF INTO BATHROOM IN A HOME. . |
| 11:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Wnw Borden | Clark, IN | FLAG POLE BENT AND ROOF SHINGLES OFF A HOUSE. |
| 11:00 UTC | TORNADO | Borden | Clark, IN | A SMALL TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN THE BACKYARD OF A HOME ABOUT A QUARTER MILE WEST OF THE CAUTION LIGHT ON IN 60 AND UPROOTED TREES AND CAUSED ROOF DAMAGE TO A HOME. THE TORNADO MOVED ALONG MUDDY FORK AND SNAPPED OR UPROOT |
| 11:01 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | New Pekin | Washington, IN | MOBILE HOME FLIPPED IN PEKIN, IN. |
| 11:04 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Wnw Borden | Clark, IN | WIDESPREAD AREA OF TREE DAMAGE WITH BUILDING MATERIALS IN THE STREETS. |
| 11:04 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Martinsburg | Washington, IN | BARN DAMAGED IN MARTINSBURG . |
| 11:04 UTC | TORNADO | Borden | Clark, IN | CORRECTED TIME. A SMALL TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN THE BACKYARD OF A HOME ABOUT A QUARTER MILE WEST OF THE CAUTION LIGHT ON IN 60 AND UPROOTED TREES AND CAUSED ROOF DAMAGE TO A HOME. THE TORNADO MOVED ALONG MUDDY FORK AND S |
| 11:05 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Wnw Borden | Clark, IN | AN NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM CONCLUDED THAT INTERMITTENT POCKETS OF STRAIGHT LINE WINDS OCCURRED ALONG A 16 MILE PATH BETWEEN SE WASHINGTON COUNTY AND W CLARK COUNTY. A ROOF WAS REMOVED FROM A HOUSE ALONG IN 135 9 MILES SOUT |
| 11:05 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Wnw Scottsburg | Scott, IN | TREE DOWN. |
| 11:05 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Ssw Vienna | Scott, IN | *** 3 INJ *** AN EF-1 TORNADO WITH 105 MPH MAXIMUM WINDS TOUCHED DOWN ON I-65 AT APPROXIMATELY MILE MARKER 25.5. IT SKIPPED EAST DESTROYING OUTBUILDINGS AND DAMAGING MOBILE HOMES. 3 PEOPLE RECEIVED MINOR INJURIES WHEN TH |
| 11:05 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Ssw Vienna | Scott, IN | *** 3 INJ *** AN EF-1 TORNADO WITH 105 MPH MAXIMUM WINDS TOUCHED DOWN ON I-65 AT APPROXIMATELY MILE MARKER 25.5. IT SKIPPED EAST DESTROYING OUTBUILDINGS AND DAMAGING MOBILE HOMES. 3 PEOPLE RECEIVED MINOR INJURIES WHEN TH |
| 11:06 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Wsw Vienna | Scott, IN | TREES BLOWN ONTO INTERSTATE 65 JUST SOUTH OF SCOTTSBURG, IN. |
| 11:08 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Nnw Carwood | Clark, IN | GLASS AND SCREEN COVERED PORCH BLOWN OFF THE BACK OF A HOUSE AT DEAM LAKE NEAR BORDEN. |
| 11:09 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Sw Memphis | Clark, IN | LARGE TREE LIMBS DOWN AT EBENEZER CHURCH ROAD AND COLUMBUS MANN ROAD. |
| 11:11 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Sse Wakefield | Jefferson, IN | BRICK HOME NEAR ROGERS ROAD AND CHICKEN RUN ROAD IS COMPLETELY MISSING ITS ROOF. THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR HAS HALF ITS ROOF MISSING. TREES IN THE AREA ARE DAMAGED. . |
| 11:11 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Bennettsville | Clark, IN | TREE ON A HOUSE. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 11:14 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Charlestown | Clark, IN | VINYL SIDING OFF A BUILDING. |
| 11:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Nnw Solon | Clark, IN | TREES SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. |
| 11:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Scottsburg | Scott, IN | AT LEAST 15 HOMES WERE DAMAGED. MINOR INJURIES TO 23 PEOPLE. MANY TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN. SEVEN ROADS CLOSED DUE TO DEBRIS. DAMAGE OCCURRED IN TWO SEPARATE AREAS OF THE COUNTY. |
| 11:18 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Sse Memphis | Clark, IN | MULTIPLE LARGE TREES EITHER UPROOTED OR TRUNKS SPLIT. |
| 11:22 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Nnw Cross Plains | Ripley, IN | TRAILER DAMAGED. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 11:22 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Nne Ramsey | Harrison, IN | ROOF WAS BLOWN OFF A CONCRETE BLOCK DUGOUT AT A YOUTH SOFTBALL FIELD BEHIND NORTH HARRISON HIGH SCHOOL. |
| 11:27 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 S Madison | Jefferson, IN | LARGE TREE SPLIT IN HALF. |
| 11:30 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | S New Marion | Ripley, IN | HIGH WATER AND DEBRIS ON ROADS |
| 11:32 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 1 Wnw Rexville | Ripley, IN | HIGH WATER OVER CO. RD. 525 |
| 11:48 UTC | FLOOD | 5 Se Seymour | Jackson, IN | US 31 FLOODED - 8 INCHES ABOVE ROAD. |
| 13:05 UTC | FLOOD | Madison | Jefferson, IN | SOME DOWNTOWN STREETS FLOODED IN MADISON. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2017 tornado in IndianaEvery tornado in Indiana since 1950Warnings in force in Indiana nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of March 1, 2017
38 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 1 | 12:30 AM CST | EF0 | Dallas, MO | 1.0 | 100 | $25,000 | ||
| March 1 | 12:35 AM CST | EF1 | Butler, KY | 0.8 | 90 | $50,000 | ||
| March 1 | 1:29 AM CST | EF1 | Johnson, AR | 0.1 | 200 | $20,000 | ||
| March 1 | 2:31 AM EST | EF0 | Highland, OH | 6.9 | 250 | $30,000 | ||
| March 1 | 2:40 AM EST | EF0 | Highland, OH | 4.5 | 100 | $10,000 | ||
| March 1 | 2:16 AM CST | EF1 | Conway, AR | 1.0 | 250 | $30,000 | ||
| March 1 | 2:18 AM CST | EF0 | Conway, AR | 1.1 | 50 | $40,000 | ||
| March 1 | 2:33 AM CST | EF1 | Cleburne, AR | 3.9 | 250 | $20,000 | ||
| March 1 | 3:38 AM EST | EF1 | Clermont, OH | 6.4 | 150 | $400,000 | ||
| March 1 | 3:13 AM CST | EF1 | Jackson, AR | 4.2 | 200 | $30,000 | ||
| March 1 | 3:20 AM CST | EF1 | Jackson, AR | 1.6 | 125 | $100,000 | ||
| March 1 | 5:00 AM EST | EF2 | Daviess, IN | 0.1 | 30 | $40,000 | ||
| March 1 | 5:05 AM EST | EF2 | Daviess, IN | 1.5 | 30 | $65,000 | ||
| March 1 | 4:08 AM CST | EF0 | Jackson, IL | 4.1 | 25 | $2,000 | ||
| March 1 | 5:10 AM EST | EF1 | Daviess, IN | 0.0 | 30 | $35,000 | ||
| March 1 | 5:30 AM EST | EF1 | Lawrence, IN | 0.2 | 40 | $22,000 | ||
| March 1 | 5:37 AM EST | EF2 | Lawrence, IN | 0.7 | 25 | 1 | $175,000 | |
| March 1 | 4:40 AM CST | EF1 | Mississippi, MO | 15.2 | 200 | $400,000 | ||
| March 1 | 5:41 AM EST | EF1 | Washington, IN | 5.8 | 100 | $150,000 | ||
| March 1 | 5:45 AM EST | EF2 | Jackson, IN | 0.3 | 50 | $45,000 | ||
| March 1 | 4:51 AM CST | EF0 | Dyer, TN | 3.7 | 50 | $50,000 | ||
| March 1 | 6:04 AM EST | EF1 | Clark, IN | 0.3 | 20 | $200,000 | ||
| March 1 | 5:25 AM CST | EF2 | Graves, KY | 1.6 | 200 | $170,000 | ||
| March 1 | 6:36 AM EST | EF1 | Henry, KY | 1.1 | 200 | $100,000 | ||
| March 1 | 7:03 AM EST | EF0 | Hamilton, OH | 1.1 | 350 | $250,000 | ||
| March 1 | 7:39 AM EST | EF1 | Highland, OH | 2.2 | 150 | $50,000 | ||
| March 1 | 6:57 AM CST | EF1 | Logan, KY | 1.6 | 75 | $100,000 | ||
| March 1 | 7:00 AM CST | EF1 | Williamson, TN | 10.5 | 250 | $7.3 million | ||
| March 1 | 8:16 AM EST | EF1 | Pike, OH | 0.6 | 125 | $30,000 | ||
| March 1 | 7:17 AM CST | EF0 | Davidson, TN | 3.1 | 100 | $55,000 | ||
| March 1 | 7:24 AM CST | EF1 | Warren, KY | 2.6 | 125 | $250,000 | ||
| March 1 | 7:37 AM CST | EF0 | Wilson, TN | 3.3 | 100 | $15,000 | ||
| March 1 | 7:40 AM CST | EF1 | Wilson, TN | 7.2 | 200 | $110,000 | ||
| March 1 | 7:51 AM CST | EF1 | Smith, TN | 3.9 | 200 | $40,000 | ||
| March 1 | 8:04 AM CST | EF1 | Putnam, TN | 7.6 | 150 | $25,000 | ||
| March 1 | 9:07 AM EST | EF1 | Meigs, OH | 0.1 | 300 | $80,000 | ||
| March 1 | 8:35 AM CST | EF1 | Putnam, TN | 0.1 | 90 | $10,000 | ||
| March 1 | 4:27 PM EST | EF1 | Murray, GA | 2.9 | 150 | $100,000 |
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.