EF1 tornado in Dubois County, Indiana

The National Weather Service conducted a storm damage assessment survey in Dubois County Indiana from the storms just after midnight Monday morning August 7. The first damage point had a few topped and twisted trees near County Rd 200 West and Haysville Rd. Wind speeds were 85 mph with a width of 60 yards. At County Road

150 W. and Haysville Rd they were tree snapped and twisted and a cinder block building collapsed. Winds increased to EF1 90 mph with a width of 75 yards. Further east along Haysville Road, all the way to Haysville US 231, there were trees twisted, topped, snapped and uprooted. There was a baseball park home plate fencing that came apart and was thrown 25 yards and moved 20 degrees to the north. Wind speeds were consistent at 90 mph with a width of 90 yards.

On Indiana 56 in Haysville there were several barns, outbuildings and one business with substantial roof and gutter damage. Winds were between 90 and 95 mph with a width of 100 yards. Along Indiana 56 there was a lot of tree damage with snapped and uprooted trees facing from a north northeast direction to a east southeast direction. At 1011 West Haysville Rd. there was a greenhouse that was thrown 60 yards and moved 30 degrees to the north, and two barns sustained roof damage.

At East County Road 725 North there was a single residence home that lost its entire roof, and debris from that house was on three sides of the adjacent house with some windows blowing out. The homeowner described the harrowing experience of holding down his family as the roof started breaking away. He described an intense earache and a loud noise that lasted 15 seconds. Four barns experienced extensive roof and siding damage. Wind speeds in this area were 100 mph, with a width of 100 yards. Drone photography showed damage from the barns went up to 200 yards to the east and northerly directions.

Sadly there were several barns damaged at a turkey farm on N. Hickory Grove Rd with many poultry killed. Further east on N. County Rd. 575 W. there were a couple of large barns that had extensive roofing damage that was thrown a couple hundred yards to the east northeast. Max Wind speeds were 100 mph and the width was 125 yards. Tornado damage continued along both sides of Indiana 56 with trees and barns taking the most damage. There were at least 10 barns that had significant roofing damage between Kellerville and Crystal. In the Crystal community along East Cuzco Rd North, there were many trees that were snapped. Homes in this area had shingles removed, soffits, facia, and gutter damage, and one garage sustained significant roofing and siding damage. Winds in this area were 95 mph with a width of 125 yards.

A few single family homes, as well as smaller farm outbuildings, sustained considerable wind damage (95mph) just north of State Road 56 on N Crystal Road. A freestanding garage had its roof uplifted and blown towards the east side of the property. The southern wall of the garage was also missing. The adjacent home had evidence of mud splatter on its southern and eastern wall. Trees in the vicinity of the home were snapped in a converging pattern. Drone imagery from the patch of forest just to the east of the home indicates tree convergence in an easterly direction for an area about 150 yards wide. Most of the trees in this area were snapped and uprooted with very few still standing. The path of destruction appears to weaken east of this point.

Multiple homes along East Old State Rd 56 experienced significant wind damage from various directions. Most homes saw the loss of roof covering and had mud splatter on the southern and western walls. Debris appeared to cover large distances as well with some debris being found a quarter of a mile to the east. The most eastern house on the road saw the most damage where the eastern side of the house (garage portion) was completely separated from the main home and shifted from its foundation. The front of the garage which was faced to the NW, seemed to have twisted and rolled towards the southeast. The roof and structure of the garage totally collapsed. Trees in the vicinity are tilted towards the south while some fell towards the east. The debris hit the western wall and some mud splatter was observed on the western and southern wall.

The tornado continued to the east where it crossed into Orange County.

Several individual storms moved across Missouri and Illinois before combining into a line of convection as it moved across southern Indiana. The line interacted with the low level jet to produce 6 tornadoes across 4 Indiana counties, including a long track tornado that traveled 25.89 miles through Dubois and Orange Counties. This set the record for the longest known tornado track for the month of August within the NWS Louisville County Warning Area. Other parts of the line surged and caused tree and power line damage along and north of Interstate 64 across southern Indiana and into the greater Louisville, Kentucky area. Additional wind and hail reports were received from the Bluegrass region of Kentucky.