Unrated tornado, Deacon to Lincoln, Indiana, June 16, 2026

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 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. Unratedthis tornado

   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

Unrated, preliminary

Date

June 16, 2026

Touchdown

5:53 PM EDT (21:53 UTC)

Path length

0.3 miles (0.4 km)

Path width

50 yards (46 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Cass County

Touchdown point

40.630, -86.291

Lift-off point

40.633, -86.288

Surveyed by

NWS IWX

Survey last edited

June 18, 2026

Record number

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

On the evening of June 16, the National Weather Service received numerous reports of a supercell with a rotating wall cloud. Cass County Emergency Management and storm chasers maintained watch over the storm. Two storm chasers on X provided photo and video evidence of brief touchdown in this area. Emergency management, farther south at this time, also indicated a possible touchdown. The tornado occurred over an open field with no damage indicators. As a result, an EF-U (unknown) tornado has been recorded.

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

2 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS IWX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EFU.

• Per EM, firefighters indicated vegetation was lifting from a field. Airspace restriction does not permit a drone flight here.
• Storm chasers documented a brief tornado touchdown over an open field. Photos and video shared on X.

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

On the afternoon on June 16, a few supercells developed. Photos of wall clouds were received and hail as large as 2 inches in diameter was recorded (in Michigan). Two EF-U tornadoes occurred as well.

On the evening of June 16, the National Weather Service received|numerous reports of a supercell with a rotating wall cloud. Cass|County Emergency Management and storm chasers maintained watch|over the storm. Two storm chasers on X provided photo and video|evidence of brief touchdown in this area. Emergency management,|farther south at this time, also indicated a possible touchdown.|The tornado occurred over an open field with no damage|indicators. As a result, an EF-U (unknown) tornado has been|recorded.

On the evening of June 16, Emergency Management and Firefighters|reported a brief tornado touchdown from a supercell that had a|documented history of a rotating wall cloud. A member of the fire|department reported seeing vegetation lifted in this area,|indicative of a brief tornado touchdown. Because the tornado|occurred over an open field with no damage indicators, this|tornado will be ranked as an EF-U; unknown. Airspace restrictions|prohibit further evaluation via drone.

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

2 minutes of warning. NWS IWX issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:51 UTC, 2 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:13 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 20:10 UTC and running to 23:27 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 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:55 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.

Logansport (GGP), 11 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), 95 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:55 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

3 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.