F2 Tornado — Warrick, Indiana

2004-05-30 · near Newburgh, Warrick, Indiana

Event narrative

This tornado touched down just west of Phelps Road, and it lifted at Highway 66 and Sharon Road. Access to the city of Newburgh was restricted due to many trees on roads and power lines. Many of the trees landed on homes, businesses, and vehicles. A front porch was torn off a home. Carports were destroyed, including one that was thrown into a ravine. The city's maintenance garage was buried under fallen trees, destroying four of the city's five trucks. Several roofs were blown off businesses. Peak winds were estimated near 120 MPH.

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 → (37.9167, -87.4500)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5398404. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.