No July Tornadoes This Year?

July is not known as one of our particularly active tornado months, but it has produced a non-trivial amount of activity over the years.  Although information is still preliminary and subject to change, it appears that no tornadoes have been confirmed this month. 

How common is it to have no tornadoes in July?  During the period from 1950-2010, 46 out of 61 years (or 75%) produced at least one tornado.  So while it is uncommon to not have any tornadoes in July, it is not unheard of. 

July 25, 1875 Tornadoes

Today, we take a trip in the time machine back to July 25, 1875.  Little is known about this severe weather event, but it appears there were at least 4 tornadoes.  Two of them were killers - one which struck the Fountain County community of Harveysburg and the other near the Boone/Hendricks county line just southwest of Fayette.  At least 4 people were killed and 14 injured.

Three Additional Tornadoes Confirmed From Late April

Here is some info on the 3 newly added tornadoes from April 26 and April 27:

5 mile long EF2 in Warrick County:

At the initial damage point just southwest of Greenbrier, many trees were snapped or uprooted. As the tornado crossed Highway 61, it demolished a barn and tossed the debris about 50 to 75 yards. Another barn was damaged, and numerous large trees were uprooted and snapped. Several homes suffered roof damage from both the wind and from trees or large branches falling on them. Three telephone poles were snapped on Highway 61. Parts of the damage path were over inaccessible, roadless coal mine property. Peak winds were estimated near 120 mph. The average path width was 300 yards.

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1 mile long EF1 in Pike County:

The tornado began on Indiana Route 61 just south of Spurgeon. It travelled northeast across the eastern outskirts of Spurgeon. Numerous trees were snapped at the base. Several trees were uprooted. Several homes received minor roof damage. A barn was damaged, with debris carried a couple hundred yards. A small building was destroyed. Severe straight-line winds caused other damage throughout the town of Spurgeon. Peak winds were estimated near 105 mph. The average path width was 200 yards.

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Brief EF0 in Sullivan County:
An EF0 tornado briefly occurred near 621 E. Silver Street in Sullivan, Indiana. Damage was done to a home at this location. There was damage to a roof, one bathroom window was blown out, and a trampoline was blown over. Roof debris was spread out over the owner's lawn, with some shingles blown into a nearby tree and one large piece of ply wood from the roof was blown over the neighbor's house, up into a tree approximately 40 feet high.

Updated Information On April 19-20 Tornado Outbreak

First off, you can view the original summary of this event here.

The following changes were made to this outbreak:


-NWS North Webster changed their preliminary ruling of 2 tornadoes in Cass County to microbursts.

-NWS Paducah added a 5 mile long EF1 tornado from Warrick to Gibson counties.

-NWS Indianapolis added 2 tornadoes, a 3 mile long EF0 in Tippecanoe county and an 11 mile long EF1 in
Knox county.

-NWS Indianapolis extended the path of the Vermillion county tornado into Montgomery county for a total path length of 31 miles.  It was also downgraded from EF2 to EF1.

-NWS Indianapolis downgraded the Tippecanoe county EF2 to EF1.

-NWS Louisville added 2 tornadoes, a 2 mile long EF1 and a 3 mile long EF0 in Jefferson county.


There was a net gain of 3 tornadoes, increasing the total from 26 to 29 but still ranking this outbreak as having the second most on record.  Here are some updated stats:


Tornadoes by NWS area:

NWS Louisville:  19
NWS Indianapolis:  5
NWS North Webster:  3
NWS Paducah:  1
NWS Wilmington:  1


Tornadoes by intensity:

11 EF0
16 EF1
2 EF2

Updated 2011 Preliminary Tornado Count

Tornado data through April has now been confirmed.  There have been some changes in number and intensity which I will detail in a post in the next day or so, but a quick rundown of tornadoes by date:


2/28:  6
4/19-4/20:  29
4/23:  1
4/26:  2
4/27:  1
5/22:  1
5/23:  2
5/25:  23
6/19:  1
6/22:  1
6/26:  2

Total:  69

Tornado Days By Month For 1950-2010

This post is an expansion of an earlier post regarding tornado days.  The image below shows the number of tornado days for every month of every year since 1950.



July 9, 1980 Rush County Tornado

Today marks the anniversary of one of the strongest July tornadoes ever to occur in Indiana.  It happened in Rush county on July 9, 1980 and produced F4 damage along its 13 mile path, killing 2 and injuring 25.  This tornado initially tracked southeastward before turning more southerly and even southwesterly for a time.

A Look At Tornadoes Which Have Crossed Out Of Indiana

Since 1950, Indiana has been struck by nearly 1300 tornadoes.  A very high number - but not all - have occurred entirely within the state boundaries.  The focus of this post is those tornadoes that started in Indiana and then moved into another state.

In the past 60 years, I found nearly two dozen tornadoes that started here before moving into a neighboring state.  I have mapped them and provided a list below.  The text only indicates the last Indiana county to be affected and the first county to be affected in the next state.  The usual caveats apply - namely, paths may be inexact and some tornadoes may not have actually been on the ground as they crossed the state line (since older tornadoes tended to be listed as one long path instead of several smaller ones).

Note that the November 22, 1992 Switzerland county tornado is also included on this map since it tracked from KY-IN-KY.  The November 6, 2005 Evansville area tornado is shown again as well since it tracked from KY-IN-KY-IN.

A Look At Tornadoes Which Have Crossed Into Indiana

Since 1950, Indiana has been struck by nearly 1300 tornadoes.  A very high number - but not all - have occurred entirely within the state boundaries.  The focus of this post is those tornadoes that started in a neighboring state before crossing into Indiana.

In the past 60 years, I found nearly two dozen tornadoes that started in Illinois, Kentucky or Michigan.  I have mapped them and provided a list below.  The text only indicates the last county to be affected in the preceding state and the first county in our state.  The usual caveats apply - namely, paths may be inexact and some tornadoes may not have actually been on the ground as they crossed the state line (since older tornadoes tended to be listed as one long path instead of several smaller ones).

There are a few interesting things in the data.  One, Knox county has been hit by a half dozen twisters passing through from Illinois.  Another noteworthy discovery is that June 2, 1990 is the only day that has had 4 tornadoes pass from Illinois into Indiana.  That day of course owns the largest tornado outbreak in state history.  Also, the tornado that struck the Evansville area on November 6, 2005 tracked from Kentucky into Indiana back into Kentucky and finally back into Indiana due to the shape of the border along the Ohio River.

Tomorrow I will post the tornadoes that started in Indiana before crossing into another state.

   

A History Of July 4 Tornadoes

July 4 is a day that we celebrate by lighting off fireworks, but nature has been known to occasionally provide its own fireworks with tornadoes and other forms of severe weather here.  I was curious to find out just how common Independence Day tornadoes have been over the years.  Although I browsed tornado records back to the 1800's, I could not find any July 4 tornadoes before 1957.  This seems rather improbable and is likely due to poor documentation in earlier years, but I can only post what I know.  I found a total of 7 tornadoes and they are listed and mapped below.  In one instance there was a discrepancy with location which I have noted.

July Tornadoes Per County Since 1950

I changed the scale from previous months since tornado frequency starts to decrease in July.