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EF2 tornado in Madison County, Indiana

Tornado July 29, 2024 · Madison County, Indiana

EF2
Rating
3.0 mi
Whole path
50 yd
Path width
$765K
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Hamilton County → Madison County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 50 yards (0.03 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The tornado began in far eastern Hamilton County as an EF0 before skipping across Indiana Route 13 into Madison County and quickly landing in a field at a cemetery south of Perkinsville in Madison county, causing sporadic tree damage. The tornado crossed the White River, snapping and uprooting several trees at a residence south of County Road 300 North where it was rated an EF1. The tornado then moved into a corn field before lifting briefly prior to hitting the Frankton Lapel Administration Building where significant brick wall and roof damage occurred. The roof of a small gymnasium at this building was lifted and thrown approximately 150 yards to the north northeast while the western brick wall collapsed inward. Numerous concrete masonry blocks were thrown from the wall into the top of several school buses that also sustained damage. One bus had a small but long metal support driven through the frame. The tornado was rated EF2 here before it continued into a corn field to the northeast and dissipated.

The wider storm

Scattered to numerous evening thunderstorms tracking mainly eastward across central Indiana, included 5 severe cells that altogether produced widely scattered wind damage. More pronounced rotation was exhibited by a few storms crossing northeastern central Indiana, with a funnel cloud near the ground in Henry County, before a tornado that started as an EF0 in Hamilton County, which tracked for 3 miles into Madison County, peaking at EF2 intensity just before dissipating.

Began near Perkinsville (40.1390, -85.8630).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1189027. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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