EF1 tornado in Newton County, Indiana

Tornado April 17, 2026 · Newton County, Indiana

EF1

Rating

19.8 mi

Whole path

50 yd

Path width

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Iroquois County, Illinois → Iroquois County, Illinois → Newton County → Newton 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 EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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

A narrow EF-1 tornado touched down near the intersection of W 1700 S and S 350 W roads near Kentland, where several large tree branches were downed. The tornado then crossed US Highway 41 at peak intensity, downing a billboard, uplifting a large portion of the roof of a restaurant, and pushing over a semi truck. A farm outbuilding was damaged nearby, as well. Debris was thrown nearly 2 miles downstream in an open field just north of US Highway 24. A narrow path evident in satellite imagery in open fields to the northeast of this debris suggested that the tornado likely continued to the northeast for approximately two more miles without impacting any trees or structures before dissipating.

The wider storm

A line of severe thunderstorms moved across northwest Indiana during the late evening of April 17th producing scattered wind damage and three tornadoes.

Began near Kentland Municipal Airport (40.7495, -87.4598).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF0 Kankakee County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1333745. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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