EF0 tornado, Grant County, Indiana, July 27, 2026

1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. EF186 to 110 mph

   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, as surveyed

EF0, preliminary

Date

July 27, 2026

Touchdown

4:31 PM EDT (20:31 UTC)

Lifted

4:37 PM EDT (20:37 UTC)

On the ground

6 minutes

Path length

5.6 miles (9.0 km)

Path width

50 yards (46 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Grant County

Touchdown point

40.581, -85.772

Lift-off point

40.542, -85.678

Highest wind the damage implies

75 mph

Surveyed by

NWS IWX

The office's name for it

Sweester_Marion, IN

Survey last edited

July 29, 2026

Record number

None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.

Ground and drone surveys found a swath of sporadic wind damage from Sweetser to Marion and near Gas City Indiana. Within this swath, evidence of a weak, disorganized circulation touching down was noted in some locations. The tornadic damage began in a cornfield near W 200 N and N 500 W on the north side of Sweetser, IN. The tornado crossed over the cornfield and impacted a neighborhood on the northeast side of Sweetser. Several large tree branches were downed and a few tree trunks snapped on Allen Drive, Mary Lou Road, and Laura Lane. The tornado continued southeast, affecting residences on W Magers Road where significant tree damage occurred including a large tree falling on the roof of a house. Another residence experienced large tree branches downed along with damage to fencing. The tornado crossed N 400 and caused damage to an apartment complex including large tree branches downed and some roof damage to a few of the apartment buildings. The tornado then affected open fields before crossing State Road 18 causing damage to a trucking company facility on the south side of State Road 18. Much of the roofing material was removed, but the plywood boards remained intact. Some of the debris from the damage to this facility was tossed to the north side of State Road 18 including a steel reel. The tornado then continued southeast across open fields between County Roads 325W and 200W before causing extensive tree damage to residences from W 9th Street to W 16th Street between Buffalo Avenue and Norton Avenue. Survey results indicate a transition occurred from tornado damage to straight line wind damage on the south side of Marion to the southeast of State Road 9 and towards Gas City. Maximum winds are estimated around 75 mph.

Written by NWS IWX in the NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit. A survey is revised as better evidence arrives.

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:58 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.

Marion (MZZ), 9 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 89 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:31 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 2026 tornado in IndianaEvery tornado in Indiana since 1950Warnings in force in Indiana nowThe forecast where you are

9 more have been surveyed in the United States that day, so far.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. A survey can be revised, so the rating, the path and the casualties can all still change.

NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit, the record the survey teams file from the damage, and NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports. Neither is the official database for 2026, which SPC publishes in the spring of 2027.