June 20, 1942 Kokomo Tornado

I haven't done many posts about pre-1950 tornadoes so I will take a couple minutes to discuss the Kokomo area tornado of June 20, 1942.  This violent F4 tornado touched down in the early evening hours south of the tiny Clinton county community of Moran.  It moved east-northeast across northern Clinton county before entering Howard county and taking aim on Kokomo.  The tornado apparently reached maximum intensity in Kokomo where it killed 2 people and heavily damaged the south side of the city before dissipating shortly thereafter.  A total of 4 people lost their lives.  Interestingly, the track was very similar to the April 11, 1965 Palm Sunday tornado.

Here is a map of the approximate path of the tornado:

The meteorological setup was characterized by an upper level trough in the Lakes and a seasonably strong surface low which tracked across the southern Lakes.  Here are the 500 millibar and surface maps from 18z:



Source:

Thomas P. Grazulis, Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991 (Environmental Films, 1993).