EF1 tornado, French Lick Muni Arp to Millersburg, Indiana, August 6, 2023

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 mphthis tornado

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. 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.

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

EF1

Date

August 6, 2023

Touchdown

12:53 AM EDT (04:53 UTC)

Lifted

1:02 AM EDT (05:02 UTC)

On the ground

9 minutes

Path length

8.7 miles (14.1 km)

Path width

175 yards (160 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Orange County

Touchdown point

38.558, -86.486

Lift-off point

38.558, -86.326

Record number

2308062253-01

190 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LMK, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 110 mph.

• Large parts of the aluminum roofing have been blown away. Garage doors are gone. Structural damage to roofing supports and garage supports. Mud splatter in multiple directions on south side of home and western side of home.
• Multiple trees uprooted and snapped in multiple directions. Closest large tree was uprooted towards the north east. Multiple trees snapped facing the south west. Images from drones indicate convergence in the woods slightly behind this photo. Indication of tornado track through this tree line according to the converging pattern.
• Free standing garage with door blown off. Entire roof missing. Southern wall is missing. Mud splatter on eastern wall. Most of the debris scattered on the north and east side.m
• Tree uprooted in different direction from the rest of the fallen trees. Most of the trees in the area fell falling NE

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

Several individual storms moved across Missouri and Illinois before combining into a line of convection as it moved across southern Indiana. The line interacted with the low level jet to produce 6 tornadoes across 4 Indiana counties, including a long track tornado that traveled 25.89 miles through Dubois and Orange Counties. This set the record for the longest known tornado track for the month of August within the NWS Louisville County Warning Area. Other parts of the line surged and caused tree and power line damage along and north of Interstate 64 across southern Indiana and into the greater Louisville, Kentucky area. Additional wind and hail reports were received from the Bluegrass region of Kentucky.

The tornado first touched down in Dubois County near County Rd 200 West and Haysville Rd. After crossing into Orange County, the tornado continued about a mile and a half east where drone footage as well as tree snapping and uprooting indicated a slight convergence pattern towards the northeast. Multiple vehicles, trailers, and mobile homes were rolled over into the forest towards the northeast. This area along South County Road 1050 W sustained significant and extensive damage as compared to areas just west. The tornado continued to track in the east-northeast direction. Drone footage from trees and cornfields also indicate convergence. Most of the worst damage was observed just north of the French Lick airport.||As the tornado tracked northeastward, large swaths of trees were snapped and uprooted. Some homes saw minor roof and wall paneling damage. Areas just east of W County Road 150 S saw extensive tree damage where a path of about 200 yards wide experienced 105 mph winds according to the damage observed in the forest.||Just southwest of Paoli, near S county Road 225 and heading northeast towards S Thompson Lane, a path of significant damage affected multiple homes and created a vast debris field toward the northeast. The entire western side of a home had sidewall and paneling ripped off part of the roof. Part of the actual roof was also ripped off. Tree next to it also snapped. There was lots of debris to the northeast and house insulation in the fences and trees. A barn located on the edge of a clearing near a cornfield was mostly flattened towards the northeast.||Thompson lane saw major tree damage with large swaths of trees being snapped in a northeast direction and some slight convergence seen from drone footage. The tornado ended here with no observed damage to the east from this tornado track on the southwest side of Paoli. In total, the tornado was rated EF1 with 107 mph maximum|winds and was a continuous track for 25.89 miles, which is a record long tornado for August in the NWS Louisville county warning area. This breaks the previous known record for long track tornado in August of 4 miles in Jefferson County, IN on August |14, 2002.

The tornado began along S Indiana Ave where several large hardwood trees had branches snap towards the east. Some homes saw side wall paneling damage as well as roofing cover damage. Damage continued along W Summit Circle Dr where several more large hardwoods were uprooted and snapped.||The main area of damage is located just south of the downtown area of French Lick on Skyline Drive. This is an area of higher elevation that saw multiple large hardwood trees snapped, some houses saw shingles and side paneling damage. This is where the highest wind speeds of 107 mph would have occurred based on damage making this tornado an EF1.The tornado then made its way northeast to S Summit St where one home saw significant sidewall damage on both its north and south side, as well as paneling damage.||The tornado then tracked southeast towards W County Road 100 S where it appeared to weaken. Several smaller hardwoods saw their limbs broken off and debris was spread out towards the north. A small sandbox outbuilding had its roof torn off and|debris fell just slightly east of the structure. Surrounding trees were bent towards the east and northeast. The winds in this area topped out at 85 mph based on the damage seen.

The first damage point had a few topped and twisted trees near Red Bud Lane and Hospital Rd. Wind speeds were between 75 and 80 mph with a 50 yard width. There was sporadic tree damage along a creek, and tree damage became more concentrated along Apache and Slaten Drive with trees twisted, topped, and one uprooted tree. Wind speeds increased to 85 to 90 mph with a width of 75 yards. The width increased to 100 yards along Sandy Hook Road and Paul Street with wind speeds around 90 mph. There were several trees on homes, and increased twisting of the trees with damage going from the east southeast to the north northeast. There were numerous power poles and powerlines down between Indiana 37 and Paul Street.||The peak of the tornado damage was on the east side of Indiana 37 between Locust Street and Oak Street. Several warehouses had significant roof damage with debris thrown from east southeast to north northeast. There were several cars that had debris on the west and east side of them. The debris from the warehouse was thrown into a forested area up to 200 yards in distance. Wind speed in this area were 100 mph with a width of 110 yards. The NWS drone was key to the survey, with drone imagery capturing trees snapped, topped, and uprooted several hundred yards east of the last warehouse. There was a lot of straight line wind damage between the two different tornadoes in Paoli.

There was plenty of straight-line tree damage from just south of the courthouse in Paoli all the way to the Pioneer Mothers Park of Hoosier National Forest. Across from the park (west side of Indiana Hwy 37) at a residence, there were many trees and large limbs down from straight-line winds (west to the east direction) of 65 mph on the south side of the property and further south on Indiana Hwy 37.||However on the north side of the property, cedar trees were twisted and debris thrown to a north-northeasterly direction. A sycamore tree was snapped with debris going from the east-northeast all the way to a northerly direction.||The survey team spoke to hikers attempting to hike down the Pioneer Mothers Park trail and it was impassable due to trees uprooted, twisted, snapped and topped. The hikers showed pictures of the dozens and dozens of snapped and uprooted trees going from the east- northeast to the north-northeast direction. This EF0 tornado had max wind speeds of 85 mph with a width of 60 yards wide.||The NWS Drone was key to the survey, with drone imagery capturing trees snapped, topped, and uprooted well into the forest. The drone was flown to a large quarry near Highway 150 with all tree damage all facing west to east direction.

The tornado first touched down on the west side of Paoli near the intersection of West Main Street and Willowcreek Road. It then moved eastward, hitting a warehouse on the north side of West Main Street while causing some damage to the roof and soffits. Winds speeds were around 85 mph with a width of 50 yards.||There was sporadic shingle and gutter damage to businesses along West Main Street on the west side of Paoli, with roofing material displaced and several trees snapped and twisted. The roofing material was spread out from a northerly to an easterly direction. There were at least two large trees on homes, laying in a north to northeasterly direction. The Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints Church had most of their windows blown out, as well as roof damage. An anchored sign had been blown over, facing almost due north. Winds were estimated at 90 mph with the tornado`s width increasing to 75 yards.||Several taller buildings at the square in Paoli had significant damage to brick fascia and roofing material was uplifted. The court house had several large chimneys down, and street signs were bent over more than 45 degrees. Damage was thrown several hundred yards to the north and east. Winds were estimated at 100 mph with a width of|75 yards.||There were numerous snapped and twisted trees along Indian Trail Road, with 75 trees down across Green Acres Golf Course. Additionally, there were many snapped, topped, and uprooted trees along Indiana State Road 56 with dozens of trees down on Blueberry Hill Estate. Winds were estimated to be 90 mph with a width increasing to 175 yards. Along Indiana State Road 56 between Limeberry Road and Tater Road, there were 7 barns sustaining roofing and gutter damage. Drone photography was able to detail large swirls in the corn and soybean fields adjacent to the property.||The most impressive damage was to two grain storage tanks, weighing over 50,000 pounds, with a collapse from the southwest to northeasterly direction. NWS drone photography did not show much damage to an adjacent corn field, and surveyors estimated winds at 100 mph at this point with a width of 150 yards.||There were dozens of power poles and lines down all along Indiana State Road 56 approaching Badger Family Farms. The last damage point was near County Road 700 and Indiana State Road 56 with some trees topped and twisted. Winds were estimated at 80 mph with an estimated tornado width of 50 yards. This is approximately 1 mile from the Washington County line on Indiana|State Road 56.

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

20 minutes of warning. NWS LMK issued a tornado warning for this county at 04:33 UTC, 20 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 05:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 01:37 UTC and running to 08:48 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:10 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.

The Louisville radar (KLVX), 76 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:53 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.

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 2023 tornado in IndianaEvery tornado in Indiana since 1950Warnings in force in Indiana nowThe forecast where you are

9 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.