EF0 tornado in Clark County, Indiana

The National Weather Service in Louisville confirmed an EF0

tornado in Perry Crossing (near Sellersburg) in Central Clark

County Indiana. The tornado touched down in a field east of

Covered Bridge Golf Club, and crossed Muddy Fork before crossing

Columbus Mann Road near Pinta Place. Video photography and eye

witnesses saw 2 small tornado funnels from the supercell.

The first damage point was to three homes on Pinta Place. The

homes had shingle and roofing material loss, along with torn

gutters and awning damage. A couple of Bradford pear trees were

displaced to the north. Wind speeds were between 80 and 85 mph

with a width of 60 yards.

The tornado appeared to lift over a small lake before

touching down again at the intersection of Lumberfield Lane and

New Perry Lane. There was damage to 3 homes with shingle and

roofing material loss. One home in particular had insulation and

mud splatter thrown around all 4 sides of the house. Witnesses

saw 2 small funnels and many had their ears popping. Wind speeds

were 85 mph with a width of 60 yards. Corn stalks from the

original touch down point was thrown to this location.

Just before the house on Lumberfield, a wooden fence was pulled

apart and knocked over. Either a board from that fence or one

from a loosely connected outbuilding board was thrown through the

wall of the house near the bathroom window.

The tornado lifted just beyond the house on the east side of

Lumberfield lane, but debris from the houses landed into homes

on Meriwether Drive. This included shingles, particle board and

one impressive 2x4 impalement into the side of the house about 9

feet off the ground.

During the evening and early overnight hours on May 7th and 8th, a cold front moved eastward from the mid Mississippi Valley into the Ohio Valley. Ample instability was present in the warm sector ahead of the front, though poor mid-level lapse rates initially hindered storm development across the region. Just before sunset, a few discrete cells began to develop along the Ohio River in southern Indiana, quickly gaining supercell characteristics in the presence of strong deep-layer shear. While weak mid-level lapse rates prevented explosive growth of these cells, they were strong enough to produce two weak tornadoes in southern Indiana. The tornadic cells also produced minor straight-line wind damage after the tornado lifted. Sporadic straight-line wind damage was also observed with another wave of storms later during the early morning hours of May 8th.