EF1 tornado, St John to Folsomville, Indiana, April 2, 2024

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

April 2, 2024

Touchdown

6:04 AM CDT (11:04 UTC)

Lifted

6:06 AM CDT (11:06 UTC)

On the ground

2 minutes

Path length

1.6 miles (2.6 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$75,000

County

Warrick County

Touchdown point

38.020, -87.363

Lift-off point

38.017, -87.333

Record number

2404020504-01

126 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS PAH, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 115 mph.

• Trees uprooted and snapped
• Minor structural damage to a few homes in the area
• This barn was on the Southern end of the track
• Large barn, destroyed, and numerous trees snapped at base evidence of convergence noted in the tree damage

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

Early morning, the surface low was located just north of St. Louis, Missouri, lifting to the NNE as it rapidly deepened. For Southwest Indiana, early morning effective bulk shear was 65-70 kts, with a very high 25-30 kts of 0-1 km shear, while SRHs were around 150-200 m2/s2. MLCAPE was 1000 J/kg, and mid-level lapse rates were 7 C/km. A 70-90 kt mid-level jet was west of the Quad State. A strong capping inversion suppressed storm activity in the evening, but the strong lift and upper level diffluence won out early morning. Two lines of storms developed after midnight in Southeast Missouri. The first just missed to the north of Gibson County. The latter was a very potent thunderstorm line racing eastward early morning April 2nd. This line continued throughout the day all the way to West Virginia, being designated a derecho. For Southwest Indiana, widespread wind damage occurred with this line, and sections of the line that took a north-south orientation had a much more favorable line-normal component of shear promoting QLCS tornado development. This was the case for Posey, Vanderburgh, and Warrick Counties. Seven tornadoes originated in Southwest Indiana: 2 (both EF-2) in Posey County, 3 in Vanderburgh County (1 EF-2 and 2 EF-1), and 2 in Warrick County (both EF-1). Including county crossovers, there were 4 tornadoes in Posey County, 4 in Vanderburgh County, and 6 in Warrick County. Four tornadoes crossed from Vanderburgh into Warrick County at approximately the same time. There were also 3 microbursts/macrobursts south of the tornado tracks: a microburst in Posey County, a macroburst that progressed from Parkers Settlement in Posey County to Melody Hill in Vanderburgh County, and a microburst south of Boonville in Warrick County. A total of 19 tornadoes were found during this event, the highest single day total for the NWS Paducah forecast area since Halloween 2003 (also 19). Vanderburgh County EMA tallied up at least 42 structures damaged (including 5 with roof damage, 7 houses damaged or destroyed, 7 hours with trees on them, 15 barns or storage structures damaged or destroyed, a gas station overhang blown over, and a radio tower blown over). Additionally, 4 semis or semi-trailers and 4 cars were blown over. Numerous metal power poles were blown over and bent in half along US-41.

An EF-2 tornado (peak of EF-1 in the Warrick County portion) entered into Central Warrick County from Vanderburgh County just north of Kansas Rd during the early morning hours of April 2nd. A roughly 150 yd swath of trees were intermittently snapped to the west of Klippel Rd. The tornado trended weaker soon after, lifting east of Euler Rd after damaging tree limbs. Estimated peak winds for the Warrick County segment were 90 mph.

An EF-1 tornado progressed into northwestern Warrick County, IN, after having begun in northeast Vanderburgh County during the early morning hours of April 2nd. Damage to several trees in tree lines between Elberfeld Rd and Seven Hills Rd was observed. The tornado continued south-southeastward south of Elberfeld, shifting more eastward at Seven Hills Rd. A barn was destroyed on Seven Hills Rd with tree damage observed further east. The tornado lifted near Pigeon Creek. Estimated peak winds for this tornado and for the Warrick County portion of it, were 105 mph.

An EF-1 tornado continued into Warrick County from Vanderburgh County during the early morning hours on April 2nd. The tornado continues tracking southeastward, producing snapped tree trunks at Bethe Lane where the tornado merged into another tornado track. Estimated peak winds for the Warrick County portion of the tornado were 105 mph.

An EF-2 tornado (max winds EF-1 in Warrick County) crossed into Warrick County just east of Elliott in Vanderburgh County, then progressed eastward damaging trees and a barn door on Base Line Rd. Near the intersection of Bethe Lane and Saint John Rd, another tornado to the north merged into this path. Several trees were uprooted east of Schultz Rd, with the tornado dissipating in the woods. Peak estimated winds were 90 mph in Warrick County with this tornado.

An EF-1 tornado touched down west of IN-261, and then impacted a residential area south of Hunter Rd. Three homes suffered substantial damage to their roofs. The tornado continued east-southeast to S. Center Rd before lifting just east of there. Hundreds of trees were either snapped or uprooted in the path. This survey was completed in partnership with Vanderburgh County and Warrick County Emergency Management Agencies. Estimated peak winds were 95 mph.

An EF-1 tornado formed in northern Warrick County, IN, during the early morning hours of April 2nd. The tornado did damage to part of a roof on Turpin Hill Rd along with snapping many trees near the Turpin Hill Rd railroad crossing. The tornado shifted southeastward, regaining an easterly trajectory upon reaching Old Kelly Rd. On Folsomville Rd, a large barn was destroyed and significant shingle damage occurred at a home. The tornado dissipated further east at Austill Rd. Overall, dozens of trees were snapped or uprooted and a few other homes observed minor damage. Estimated peak winds were 100 mph.

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

17 minutes of warning. NWS PAH issued a tornado warning for this county at 10:47 UTC, 17 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 11:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 07:12 UTC and running to 12:18 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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 06:00 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 Evansville,IN radar (KVWX), 43 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 11:02 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 2024 tornado in IndianaEvery tornado in Indiana since 1950Warnings in force in Indiana nowThe forecast where you are

68 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 69 of them

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.