EF2 tornado, Austin to Milton, Indiana, June 18, 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 mphthis tornado

   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

EF2, preliminary

Date

June 18, 2026

Touchdown

3:04 AM EDT (07:04 UTC)

Lifted

3:32 AM EDT (07:32 UTC)

On the ground

28 minutes

Path length

23.6 miles (38.0 km)

Path width

1,000 yards (914 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

1

Counties

Scott and Trimble counties

Touchdown point

38.753, -85.801

Lift-off point

38.717, -85.380

Highest wind the damage implies

130 mph

Surveyed by

NWS LMK

The office's name for it

Scott-Jefferson-Trimble

Survey last edited

June 19, 2026

Record number

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

The National Weather Service completed a storm survey and determined that a tornado occurred during the early morning hours on June 18, 2026 in Scott County and Jefferson County Indiana and then crossed the river into Trimble County Kentucky. The tornado was 1000 yards wide and 23.62 miles in length. Maximum winds were EF2 130 mph.

The tornado first touched down on the northeast side of Austin, Indiana near the community park. Several trees were damaged with twisted tops or brought down entirely in the park. Some fencing and bleacher damage was also observed at the ball fields. The tornado continued across rural portions of Scott county just north of state road 256 with tree damage along the way. The most notable damage started occurring in extreme eastern Scott county north of Wooster along Blanton Road. Drone footage had shown a clear path in the woods of extensive tree damage with several house structures also having damage south of Hardy Lake. High end EF1 winds around 110 mph began here.

The tornado continued into western Jefferson County Indiana along Henry road where the tornado gained size and strength. Several farms north of Henry road had barns totally destroyed with extensive tree damage. Some residences also were completely demolished. Max sustained winds of EF2 120 mph occurred north of the Republican, Kent, and Hanover communities to the west of Madison. The tornado dropped over the cliff past state road 56 toward Clifty Creek Generating Station, where the tornado gained strength. The maximum winds for the entire tornado occurred at the power plant at EF2 130 mph. At this location, a steel electrical transmission line was completely toppled and mangled. The power lines dropped into the Ohio River and closed river traffic at Madison Indiana due to this tornado. In Jefferson County, at least one injury was reported and at least 6 cattle were killed from the tornado.

The tornado then crossed the Ohio River into Trimble County, Kentucky near Milton. Several trees and campers along Coopers Bottom Road received extensive damage with maximum winds at EF1 110 mph. The tornado ended just along US Highway 421 near Milton with no additional damage observed to the east of the Highway.

The National Weather Service would like to extend a big thank you to Scott County Emergency Management, Jennings Township Fire Department, Jefferson County Emergency Management, Trimble County Emergency Management, the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, and the many helpers that assisted Emergency Management with damage assessments and mapping provided to the NWS to assist with this survey. Thanks also goes to the many helpful homeowners who gave their tornado accounts and gave access to their damaged properties to allow for a complete documented tornado survey.

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

84 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS ILN and NWS LMK, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 130 mph.

• Large tree down on recreational vehicle
• Large tree down on roof with camper damage
• 4 barns destroyed with 6 head of cattle lost
• Debris splatter on building, heavy tree damage

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

A Mesoscale Convective System moved across the Ohio Valley on the night of June 17th, 2026 and the morning of June 18th, 2026. Supercells congealed into a line of storms as it moved south into southern Indiana and northern Kentucky. These storms brought severe winds and a few tornadoes to the area. Additionally, long residence time of heavy rainfall lead to flash flooding that lasted through most of the day on June 18th, 2026.

A Mesoscale Convective System moved across the Ohio Valley on the night of June 17th, 2026 and the morning of June 18th, 2026. Supercells congealed into a line of storms as it moved south into southern Indiana and northern Kentucky. These storms brought severe winds and a few tornadoes to the area. Additionally, long residence time of heavy rainfall lead to flash flooding that lasted through most of the day on June 18th, 2026.

The National Weather Service completed a storm survey and determined that a tornado occurred during the early morning hours on June 18, 2026 in Scott County and Jefferson County Indiana and then crossed the river into Trimble County Kentucky. The tornado was 1000 yards wide and 23.62 miles in length. Maximum winds were |EF2 130 mph.||The tornado first touched down on the northeast side of Austin, Indiana near the community park. Several trees were damaged with twisted tops or brought down entirely in the park. Some fencing and bleacher damage was also observed at the ball fields. The tornado continued across rural portions of Scott county just north of state road 256 with tree damage along the way. The most notable damage started occurring in extreme eastern Scott county north of Wooster along Blanton Road. Drone footage had shown a clear path in the woods of extensive tree damage with several house structures also having damage south of Hardy Lake. High end EF1 winds around 110 mph began here before the tornado crossed into Jefferson County.

The National Weather Service completed a storm survey and determined that a tornado occurred during the early morning hours on June 18, 2026 in Scott County and Jefferson County Indiana and then crossed the river into Trimble County Kentucky. The tornado was 1000 yards wide and 23.62 miles in length. Maximum winds were EF2 130 mph.||The tornado then crossed the Ohio River into Trimble County, Kentucky near Milton. Several trees and campers along Coopers Bottom Road received extensive damage with maximum winds at EF1 110 mph. The tornado ended just along US Highway 421 near Milton with no additional damage observed to the east of the Highway.

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

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.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 02:13 UTC and running to 09:00 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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:49 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), 90 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 07:02 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 2026 tornado in IndianaEvery tornado in Indiana since 1950Warnings in force in Indiana nowThe forecast where you are

50 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.