F1 Tornado — Vanderburgh, Indiana

2004-05-30 · near Darmstadt, Vanderburgh, Indiana

Event narrative

The tornado first touched down on Bromm Road, then tracked east directly across Darmstadt, finally lifting at Browning Road. Hundreds of trees were blown down, including many that landed on houses and power lines. A total of 42 single family homes, 6 commercial structures, and 1 agricultural structure were affected. One single family home and one business was destroyed. Five single family homes and four commercial buildings received major damage. The remainder of the 42 structures received only minor damage. Peak winds were estimated near 100 MPH. Strong gusty winds occurred throughout Vanderburgh County. A gust to 57 MPH was measured in Evansville.

Wider weather episode

Widespread damaging winds raked southwest Indiana. Embedded short-lived tornadoes and intense downbursts caused pockets of severe damage. The single most destructive event was an F-2 tornado that struck Newburgh, Indiana. Another tornado in the northern suburbs of Evansville caused over one million dollars damage. Intense downbursts occurred in eastern Warrick County and southern Spencer County. The downburst in Warrick County occurred south of Tennyson, near the Spencer County line, where hundreds of trees were blown down or damaged. The damage area, which was caused by winds estimated near 85 MPH, was about 3.5 miles long and 50 to 75 yards wide. Little or no damage was reported to residences in this very sparsely populated area. Another larger downburst in southern Spencer County caused more significant damage from Enterprise to Rockport. Estimated winds from 70 to 80 MPH caused lots of damage to trees. The damage area was about 9 miles long and 2 miles wide. Some structures were damaged, and shingles were blown off roofs. Across the remainder of southwest Indiana, numerous trees were blown down across southern Gibson County, and a gust to 60 MPH was measured at St. Philip in Posey County. There were trees and limbs down in Posey County. Sporadic tree damage was reported across Pike County. In Warrick County, in addition to the Newburgh tornado and Tennyson downburst, there were numerous trees and power lines down in Boonville. In Spencer County, trees were blown down countywide.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.1000, -87.6333)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5398402. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.