Tornadoes · United States · Indiana · 2018
EF1 tornado, Hillgrove to New Middletown, Indiana, July 20, 2018
From Hillgrove to New Middletown, this EF1 tornado ran 6.0 miles across Harrison County on July 20, 2018, touching down at 2:04 PM EDT and reaching 250 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $600,000 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
- July 20, 2018
- Touchdown
- 2:04 PM EDT (18:04 UTC)
- Lifted
- 2:20 PM EDT (18:20 UTC)
- On the ground
- 16 minutes
- Path length
- 6.0 miles (9.7 km)
- Path width
- 250 yards (229 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $600,000
- County
- Harrison County
- Touchdown point
- 38.153, -86.150
- Lift-off point
- 38.157, -86.035
- Record number
- 1807201204-01
The damage survey
1 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LMK, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 65 mph.
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
Rounds of severe storms hammered southern Indiana and central Kentucky on Friday, July 20, 2018, bringing very large hail, wind damage, heavy rain, and 2 confirmed tornadoes in Indiana. ||The largest hail report the national weather service received was 4 inches in diameter (softball size) in Tompkinsville! The strongest measured wind gust was 70 mph at the Lexington Bluegrass Airport.
A tornado was confirmed of EF1 scale with a maximum wind speed of 105 mph. The tornado first touched down along Justin`s Trail in the Southwind Estates subdivision. There was significant tree damage along Pleasure Ridge Road where a large tree fell on a garage. Farther east along Pleasure Ridge Road, several small funnels from the main funnel did extensive damage. A 2 x 8 impaled a concrete grain silo. At least four big barns received extensive damage, including a turkey barn. Further east, several funnels congealed into one main tornado doing extensive damage to hardwood trees and significant roof damage to several homes. Along South Pleasant Road, one home had mud spatter on the back east side of the house where several pieces of wood were impaled in the ground. At that property, a pole barn was completely destroyed and thrown in different directions. A truck and horse trailer was moved and twisted 50 feet. The wind speeds in this area were the strongest at 105 mph and the maximum width was 250 yards. ||At the end of Sarabeth Way, there was extensive hardwood tree damage which included uprooted, twisted, and mangled trees. This included several healthy hickory trees which were snapped. Further east on Sinker Road, there was impressive cyclonic crop damage across a corn field with corn laying in every direction. On Simler Road, there was consistent snapped tree damage and we observed a camper that had been tossed and flipped over and several barns received extensive damage. During the final stages of the tornado, it struck homes along Peyton Road flipping over single wide trailers, lifting the roof of a barn, and doing extensive tree damage. Parts of the barn, including insulation and sheet metal, were thrown into the trees.||According to a local TV news broadcast, a New Middletown Volunteer Fire Department member suffered a minor injury. ||The tornado was captured on video by a security camera and a resident's cell phone in the Southwind Estates, which were circulated on social media. These videos showed an extremely small but visible vortex (one to three feet in diameter) on the ground going through a grassy area and splitting a tree in front of a home. One of the videos continued to show the tornado after this, where it grew in size.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Louisville, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Jul 20, 12:59 PM EDT, 1 hour 5 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 20, 12:59 PM EDT, 1 hour 5 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Louisville KY 1259 PM EDT Fri Jul 20 2018 .Forecast Update... Issued at 1130 AM EDT Thu Jul 19 2018 No substantial changes to the SVR potential for late this afternoon and evening. Temps are currently being held back by low cloud cover, but the flipside is that shallow mixing keeps the dewpoints high and the LCLs low. Multiple rounds of storms are possible this afternoon and evening. An effective boundary is oriented NE-SW and clips the Hoosier National Forest, but we have only seen one isolated cell now in Orange County. Isolated storms are possible through early afternoon, and could become severe. Greater severe potential would begin roughly 21Z-00Z, mainly near the I-64 corridor, with the threat pushing south as the evening progresses. Damaging winds appear to be the main threat, but very steep mid-level lapse rates will support golfball to baseball size hail in the strongest storms, and if the LCLs remain low the tornado threat becomes more concerning. && .Short Term...(Today and tonight) Issued at 315 AM EDT Fri Jul 20 2018 ...Severe Weather Expected Today, Potentially Significant... Morning... Before we get to the severe threat later today, wanted to address the current and expected convection later this morning. Seeing isolated to scattered showers and a few storms develop in association with a warm advection wing rotating through the area. This convection should continue to push east this morning and should grow in coverage/intensity across SE Indiana and in the Bluegrass region of east central Kentucky. They are already east of the analyzed warm front over western KY and should be elevated in nature. These should mainly pose a lightning, brief heavy rain, and hail threat. Suppose a few marginally severe hail stones or some 40 mph winds could be possible, but think the storms will largely stay sub-severe this morning. Instability & Forcing... Most of the global and hi-res models seem to generally agree that this convection moves off to the east later this morning and strong heating/destabilization then occurs through midday into the afternoon. During this time, expect a relative lull in precipitation/convective activity. Do think convection could get going again pretty early in the afternoon to our north where better forcing will interact with the available instability. However down across southern IN and KY the better forcing doesn't arrive until late afternoon and evening with the exit region of the mid/upper impulse and convergence along the expected cold front. This is expected to allow for strong/very strong instability to develop given temps in the upper 80s and dew points in the lower (to possibly mid 70s across our far west). The low level heat/moisture will be overrun by steepening mid level lapse rates, creating some very impressive thermal profiles and "fat" CAPE soundings. Some models estimate SB CAPE values pushing up into the 5000-6000 J/KG range across our far west later today. Prefer to rely more on ML CAPE values which should still be around 3000-4000 J/KG and considered strongly unstable. Given the potential for initial supercell storm modes and the expected instability, the Moderate risk is actually for the very large hail (>2") potential. Shear, Storm Mode/Evolution, & Timing... From a shear standpoint, data continues to suggest some impressive values for this time of year as the strong mid level impulse contributes to 0-6 km shear values between 40-60 knots across the Moderate risk area over our western half of the CWA. It is interesting to note that the best LLJ response will be displaced to the NE over central IN and northern OH this evening, however enough of a response should still occur over our area (20-30 knots) to yield a nice veering/increasing wind profile for supercell development with initial storm mode. Best shear profiles should line up over or NW CWA where any early supercell should carry the greatest tornado threat. This is also where the best low level moisture, lowest LCL's, and strongest instability axis will reside for a short window before mode likely tries to transition to bowing segments and perhaps a more large scale wind producer. Do expect that the tornado probs across our west and especially NW CWA may need to be increased if above scenario plays out as expected. Window for supercellular tornadoes could be short, but also could last into the late evening if storms stay more discrete. IN SUMMARY: storm mode and evolution still have some questions, but think initial supercells with a hail and isolated tornado threat should transition to more of a wind threat as we move later into the evening. Best timing for severe is expected between 4 PM - Midnight EDT. Flooding Threat Low... Overall, think the flooding threat is relatively low given the expected progressive nature of the storms. However, repeated rounds of storms could occur with morning and afternoon/evening convection so can't rule out a few localized problems. Rest of Friday Night... Severe threat should be ending around midnight with a relatively quiet rest of the overnight. Look for lows on either side of 70. .Long Term...(Saturday through Thursday) Issued at 250 AM EDT Fri Jul 20 2018 Saturday through Monday Night... At the beginning of the period, a closed upper level low over the southern Great Lakes will slowly drop southward into the Ohio Valley. This upper level low will transit through our region Saturday through Monday before dropping into the southern Gulf coast states by early Tuesday. With the upper level low transversing across our region, unsettled weather is expected this weekend and into early next week. Plenty of clouds with an uptick in diurnally driven convection looks very likely. Thus, this issuance of the forecast will continue to feature high chance PoPs through the period. Temperatures will be below normal this weekend. Highs Saturday will likely only top out in the low-mid 80s. Some sections of the northern Bluegrass may only top out in the upper 70s. Expect cool conditions to continue on Sunday with highs in the mid-upper 70s across much of the region, though the far southwest sections of our CWA could squeak out an 80 degree reading. Upper 70s and lower 80s will be common on Monday as well. Lows through the period will generally average in the middle 60s. Tuesday through Thursday... Overall western hemispheric set up for the long term period next week will feature a large positive height anomaly over the central Atlantic with another positive height anomaly over the southwestern US. Through the period, the global models want to attempt to amplify both of these features. With the current projected wave spacing, we'll see a persistent trough axis centered over the eastern United States. The trough axis may be far enough to our east that we should see a return of typical late July conditions beginning Tuesday and continuing through the remainder of the week. Depending on the upper trough axis positioning, we expect that a gradient of temperatures will be seen across the Ohio Valley. A slightly cooler and unsettled weather pattern may win out over the eastern Ohio Valley, while a bit warmer/drier pattern may be found out west of the Pennyrile region and into the Mid-Missouri Valley. For now, will allow the forecast temperatures to rise back to near climo values across the region, with a slight cut in temps across the east. Will continue to keep low chance PoPs in the forecast through the period though likely capping things at 30 percent or less as a start. Main belt of westerlies looks to remain to our north. However, there are increasing signals that some deeper amplification of the flow could commence by late week. Experimental signal analysis suggests a signal crossing by next weekend which could bring yet another round of unsettled weather to the Ohio Valley. && .Aviation...(18Z TAF Issuance) Issued at 1255 PM EDT Fri Jul 20 2018 Low strato-cu deck has held on, keeping ceilings in the high-end MVFR range. Mixing may become just a little deeper, but for the most part rising dewpoints will offset the rise in temps, so not convinced we can lift to VFR. Confidence is high that strong to severe storms will affect the terminals this evening, but lower confidence in the exact timing and impacts. Will try to pinpoint a 4-6 hr window for storms, and will go with MVFR cig/vis. Could easily see IFR but only for a small portion of that time period. Post-storm environment overnight will feature light S-SW winds and mid-level debris clouds. Should remain dry through midday Saturday, with a PROB30 group in order for storms in the planning period at SDF. && .LMK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IN...None. KY...None. && Update...RAS Short Term...BJS Long Term...MJ Aviation...RAS
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 20, 11:03 AM EDT, 3 hours 1 minute before
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Louisville KY 1103 AM EDT Fri Jul 20 2018 INZ076>079-083-084-089>092-KYZ023>043-045>049-053>057-061>067- 070>078-081-082-211515- Orange-Washington-Scott-Jefferson-Dubois-Crawford-Perry-Harrison- Floyd-Clark-Hancock-Breckinridge-Meade-Ohio-Grayson-Hardin-Bullitt- Oldham-Trimble-Henry-Shelby-Franklin-Spencer-Anderson-Woodford- Fayette-Bourbon-Nicholas-Nelson-Mercer-Jessamine-Larue-Marion-Boyle- Garrard-Madison-Butler-Edmonson-Hart-Green-Taylor-Casey-Lincoln- Logan-Warren-Simpson-Allen-Barren-Monroe-Metcalfe-Adair-Russell- Cumberland-Clinton- Including the cities of Paoli, Salem, Scottsburg, Madison, Jasper, English, Tell City, Corydon, New Albany, Jeffersonville, Lewisport, Hawesville, Hardinsburg, Brandenburg, Hartford, Leitchfield, Elizabethtown, Shepherdsville, Louisville, La Grange, Bedford, Milton, New Castle, Shelbyville, Frankfort, Georgetown, Cynthiana, Taylorsville, Lawrenceburg, Versailles, Lexington, Paris, Carlisle, Bardstown, Springfield, Harrodsburg, Nicholasville, Winchester, Hodgenville, Lebanon, Danville, Lancaster, Richmond, Morgantown, Brownsville, Horse Cave, Greensburg, Campbellsville, Liberty, Stanford, Russellville, Bowling Green, Franklin, Providence, Scottsville, Glasgow, Tompkinsville, Edmonton, Columbia, Jamestown, Burkesville, and Albany 1103 AM EDT Fri Jul 20 2018 /1003 AM CDT Fri Jul 20 2018/ This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of south central Indiana and Central Kentucky. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight. Scattered storms will develop quickly this afternoon and intensify as a strong upper level weather system pushes through. There will be several waves of storms and all storm hazards are on the table. Damaging winds, large hail, and tornadoes are all threats along with very heavy rainfall and intense frequent lightning. Have a way to receive weather warnings and a plan of action. The most widespread period of storms will be from late this afternoon through late evening. The storms should be out of the area midnight. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday. Scattered afternoon and evening storms are expected each day through the late weekend and into mid week. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will be needed later this afternoon and well into the evening. BJS/JDG
In the hours before
Local storm report, Jul 20, 1:27 PM EDT, 37 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
127 PM EDT FRI JUL 20 2018
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0122 PM HAIL SULPHUR 38.23N 86.47W
07/20/2018 M1.75 INCH CRAWFORD IN PUBLIC
&&
EBWSpecial weather statement, Jul 20, 1:33 PM EDT, 31 minutes before
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Louisville KY
133 PM EDT FRI JUL 20 2018
INZ077-084-090-091-201800-
Crawford-Washington-Floyd-Harrison-
133 PM EDT FRI JUL 20 2018
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT NORTHWESTERN HARRISON...EASTERN
CRAWFORD...NORTHWESTERN FLOYD AND SOUTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON
COUNTIES...
At 132 PM EDT, a strong thunderstorm was located 9 miles northeast of
Carefree Town, moving northeast at 30 mph.
Winds in excess of 40 mph and half inch hail are possible with this
storm.
Locations impacted include...
Palmyra, Milltown, Greenville, Martinsburg, Bradford, Central Barren,
Hancock Chapel and Depauw.
This storm may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio
stations and available television stations for additional information
and possible warnings from the National Weather Service.
LAT...LON 3846 8604 3839 8597 3833 8612 3836 8614
3831 8630 3837 8631
TIME...MOT...LOC 1732Z 243DEG 15KT 3836 8625
JDGLocal storm report, Jul 20, 1:40 PM EDT, 24 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
140 PM EDT FRI JUL 20 2018
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0121 PM HAIL FREDONIA 38.18N 86.40W
07/20/2018 M2.00 INCH CRAWFORD IN TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
EBWLocal storm report, Jul 20, 1:42 PM EDT, 22 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
142 PM EDT FRI JUL 20 2018
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0128 PM HAIL LEAVENWORTH 38.20N 86.35W
07/20/2018 E1.25 INCH CRAWFORD IN EMERGENCY MNGR
&&
JMBSpecial weather statement, Jul 20, 1:51 PM EDT, 13 minutes before
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Louisville KY
151 PM EDT FRI JUL 20 2018
INZ077>079-201830-
Washington-Jefferson-Scott-
151 PM EDT FRI JUL 20 2018
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT WEST CENTRAL JEFFERSON...
NORTHERN SCOTT AND NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON COUNTIES...
At 150 PM EDT, a strong thunderstorm was located over Salem, moving
northeast at 25 mph.
Winds in excess of 40 mph and half inch hail are possible with this
storm.
Locations impacted include...
Scottsburg, Salem, Austin, Little York, New Philadelphia, Farabee,
Blocher, South Boston, New Frankfort and Canton.
This storm may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio
stations and available television stations for additional information
and possible warnings from the National Weather Service.
LAT...LON 3873 8560 3851 8608 3861 8615 3875 8591
3875 8590 3873 8589 3873 8585 3878 8582
3878 8580 3881 8580
TIME...MOT...LOC 1750Z 235DEG 21KT 3862 8611
JDGSpecial weather statement, Jul 20, 1:57 PM EDT, 7 minutes before
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Louisville KY 157 PM EDT FRI JUL 20 2018 KYZ036-037-042-201830- Bourbon-Scott-Harrison- 157 PM EDT FRI JUL 20 2018 ...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT CENTRAL SCOTT...NORTHWESTERN BOURBON AND SOUTHWESTERN HARRISON COUNTIES... At 157 PM EDT, a strong thunderstorm was located near Georgetown, moving northeast at 30 mph. Wind gusts of 50 to 55 mph and nickel size hail are possible with this storm. Locations impacted include... Georgetown, Stamping Ground, Leesburg, Alberta, Moon Lake Estates, Muddy Ford, Broadwell, Great Crossing, Davis and Newtown. LAT...LON 3817 8458 3827 8468 3846 8443 3827 8427 TIME...MOT...LOC 1757Z 238DEG 26KT 3826 8459 DM
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.
Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), 12:00Z
6.1 hours before the tornado, 230 km from the path. July 20, 2018.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 918 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -46 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 469 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 766 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 27 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 15 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 123 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 206 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.7
- Supercell composite
- 5.7
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.1 K/km
Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), 00:00Z
5.9 hours after it, 230 km from the path. July 21, 2018.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 3305 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -1 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 4463 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1217 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 53 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 13 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 90 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 169 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 2.2
- Supercell composite
- 11.6
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 7.1 K/km
The surface observations
Fort Knox/Godman (FTK), 30 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 UTC |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Louisville radar (KLVX), 24 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 18:05 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.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2018 tornado in IndianaEvery tornado in Indiana since 1950Warnings in force in Indiana nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of July 20, 2018
9 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 20 | 4:32 AM CDT | EF0 | Camden, MO | 0.1 | 75 | |||
| July 20 | 1:53 PM EDT | EF0 | Marshall, IN | 0.5 | 50 | |||
| July 20 | 12:55 PM CDT | EF0 | Waushara, WI | 0.1 | 10 | |||
| July 20 | 2:03 PM EDT | EF0 | Washington, IN | 1.1 | 75 | $50,000 | ||
| July 20 | 3:14 PM EDT | EF0 | Wabash, IN | 0.8 | 25 | |||
| July 20 | 3:50 PM EDT | EF1 | Madison, IN | 0.6 | 30 | $30,000 | ||
| July 20 | 4:22 PM EDT | EF0 | Miami-Dade, FL | 0.2 | 20 | $5,000 | ||
| July 20 | 6:03 PM CDT | EF0 | Metcalfe, KY | 2.1 | 60 | $125,000 | ||
| July 20 | 9:56 PM CDT | EF1 | Hart, KY | 1.2 | 60 | $200,000 |
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.