EF1 tornado, Whitcomb to Mc Gonigle, Indiana, May 7, 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

May 7, 2024

Touchdown

7:56 PM CDT (00:56 UTC)

Lifted

8:09 PM CDT (01:09 UTC)

On the ground

13 minutes

Path length

8.0 miles (12.8 km)

Path width

300 yards (274 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$10,000

Counties

Franklin and Butler counties

Touchdown point

39.462, -84.959

Lift-off point

39.447, -84.811

Record number

2405071856-01

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

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

Showers and thunderstorms developed during the late afternoon and evening hours ahead of a low pressure system moving through the Ohio Valley.

Showers and thunderstorms developed during the late afternoon and evening hours ahead of a low pressure system moving through the Ohio Valley.

The tornado started just to the east of Brookville Lake, in a field just west of the Hickory Woods Campground. Tornadic damage was first observed at the Hickory Woods Campground where numerous trees were blown over, snapped or uprooted. Numerous camping units and manufactured homes were also overturned or damaged. On the other side of State Road 101, two outbuildings were destroyed and additional tree damage occurred.||The tornado briefly moved to the northeast and produced damage along Whitcomb Road. One outbuilding was destroyed and a few trees were snapped or blown over. The tornado then moved southeast where the next area of visible damage was along Liberty Pike, Oxford Pike and Urban Road. One two story single family home on Oxford Pike had its roof completely lifted off and there was also visible exterior wall collapse on the second story of one side of the home. Winds here were estimated to be up to 110 mph, representing high-end EF-1 damage. ||Once the tornado moved to Springfield Road, it appeared to have weakened. Minor tree damage was observed on Springfield Road and damage to a barn was seen on Raymond Road. The tornado then moved into Butler County, Ohio, at 2008EST, about 5 miles south-southwest of Oxford, and ended shortly thereafter at 2009EST.

The tornado started in Franklin County, Indiana, at 1956EST, just to the east of Brookville Lake. The tornado moved east and entered Butler County Ohio, at 2008EST, about 5 miles south-southwest of Oxford. The tornado quickly weakened and ended just east of State-Line Road, near Springfield Road, where it caused some minor tree damage.

The tornado started in Reily Township along Bunker Hill Woods Road where one outbuilding was destroyed and significant damage occurred to the roof and garage of a single family home. Winds in this area were estimated to be around 110 mph. ||Trees were snapped and another outbuilding was destroyed along Pierson Road. Additional tree and structure damage was noted along Stillwell Beckett Road. The tornado continued to move east and downed some trees at the Indian Ridge Golf Club. Some trees were also downed along Eagle View Court and Lanes Mill Road just east of the golf course before the tornado ended.

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

30 minutes of warning. NWS ILN issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:26 UTC, 30 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 22:01 UTC and running to 03:22 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 19:45 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.

Oxford (OXD), 10 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 91 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:56 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

52 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.