EF1 tornado in Clay County, Indiana

An EF-1 tornado with path length of 6.64 miles and a path width of 300 yards began in eastern Vigo County before moving into Clay county. Within Clay county the peak width was 300 yards, path length of 4.5 miles and peak winds of 110 mph. Damage within Clay county included significant damage to a 100 year old brick barn and several homesteads in western Clay county along 200S.

During the 17th evening into the 18th early morning, a strong upper-level disturbance interacted with a warm, moist, and unstable airmass across central and southern Indiana. Strong vertical wind shear and moderate atmospheric instability supported the rapid development of supercells and bowing linear segments capable of producing tornadoes, damaging straight-line winds, and torrential rainfall.

Severe weather initiated in western Indiana around 7:40 PM EST on June 17 and tracked southeastward across the state through 1:25 AM EST on June 18. Four tornadoes touched down during the outbreak, highlighted by a strong EF-3 tornado with peak winds of 140 mph that tracked over 18 miles across Owen and Monroe counties, causing severe structural damage to residential properties and widespread tree damage. Three additional EF-1 tornadoes, with peak winds ranging between 95 mph and 110 mph, caused localized structural and timber damage across Vigo, Clay, Brown, and Jackson counties.

In addition to tornadoes, widespread straight-line wind gusts between 58 mph and 70 mph caused scattered tree and power line damage across broad portions of central and southern Indiana, resulting in temporary road blockages and localized power outages. Intense rainfall rates accompanying the initial severe thunderstorms also produced localized flash flooding in Vigo County, leading to multiple road closures in and around Terre Haute. This severe weather event would be the fifth of many for the month which would eventually define a formal disaster period from June 6th to the 18th which was declared by the governor of Indiana.