Brief Review of May 7, 2024 Tornadoes and Severe Weather

Tornadoes

Tornado - 3 NW St Paul Shelby County Date 05/07/24 Time (Local) 8:02 - 8:03 PM EDT EF Rating EF-0 Est. Peak Winds 85 mph Path Length 0.78 miles Max Width 50 yards Injuries/Deaths 0/0 Summary: Numerous small to medium size trees were found uprooted or with large limbs broken off. Nearby homes had little damage other than some shingles off and gutters torn off. A very old barn had some roof damage. Drone footage showed a few trees had larger limbs broken/snapped close to ending point of this line. Track Map

Radar/Storm Relative Velocity Near Tornado Time

Tornado - 4 NNE of St Paul Rush County Date 05/07/24 Time (Local) 8:05 - 8:06 PM EDT EF Rating EF-1 Est. Peak Winds 110 mph Path Length 0.16 miles Max Width 30 yards Injuries/Deaths 0/0 Summary: A brief tornado occurred at this location, hitting a metal barn and throwing debris to the northeast, north, and northwest. The tornado quickly dissipated in a field to the east.  Grain silos just west of building and nearby home to the northwest were untouched. Track Map

Radar/Storm Relative Velocity near Tornado Time

Tornado - 7 SE of Rushville Rush County Date 05/07/24 Time (Local) 7:47 - 7:53 PM EDT EF Rating EF-U Est. Peak Winds N/A Path Length 0.77 miles Max Width 30 yards Injuries/Deaths 0/0 Summary: Clear video of this tornado was taken by a nearby resident. It moved almost due east over a farm field. Only small stalks of old soybeans could be seen in a swirled pattern in the field where the eyewitness saw the tornado cross 635 East. Infrared imagery from a drone showed very evident swirl marks in the field along the path. Because no damage occurred, this tornado cannot be accurately rated and given a wind speed, thus it is classified as an EFU for unknown. Track Map

Radar/Storm Relative Velocity near Tornado Time

Tornado - 2 N of St Paul Rush County Date 05/07/24 Time (Local) 8:03 - 8:15 PM EDT EF Rating EF-1 Est. Peak Winds 110 mph Path Length 4.63 miles Max Width 75 yards Injuries/Deaths 0/0 Summary: This tornado was likely associated with the second tornado warned supercell that moved across southern Rush County. Mostly tree damage and minor structural damage was found along this path. Several healthy softwood pine trees were snapped about 8 to 10 feet above ground, but nearby homes and barns had little damage. One barn did have part of metal roofing pulled back and thrown to the east southeast. Track Map

Radar/Storm Relative Velocity Image near Tornado Time

Tornado - 8 NE of Greensburg Decatur County Date 05/07/24 Time (Local) 8:25 - 8:29 PM EDT EF Rating EF-0 Est. Peak Winds 81 mph Path Length 4.48 miles Max Width 100 yards Injuries/Deaths 0/0 Summary: Damage along this track was mostly to utility poles along county roads 550 east and north 700 east and some larger tree branches broken. Track Map

Radar/Storm Relative Velocity near Tornado Time

The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories:

EF0 Weak 65-85 mph	EF1 Moderate 86-110 mph	EF2 Significant 111-135 mph	EF3 Severe 136-165 mph	EF4 Extreme 166-200 mph	EF5 Catastrophic 200+ mph

Radar

Below are some selected images from the event. A loop of radar from much of the event follows below.

Radar at 4:40 PM EDT	Radar at 6:30 PM EDT	Radar at 8:00 PM EDT

Storm Reports

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Indianapolis IN


..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0435 PM     Hail             2 SE West Terre Haute   39.44N 87.43W
05/07/2024  E1.00 Inch       Vigo               IN   Public

            Report from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.).

0440 PM     Hail             Terre Haute             39.47N 87.38W
05/07/2024  E1.00 Inch       Vigo               IN   Amateur Radio

0456 PM     Hail             2 N Staunton            39.51N 87.19W
05/07/2024  E1.00 Inch       Clay               IN   Public

0500 PM     Tstm Wnd Gst     Brazil                  39.53N 87.12W
05/07/2024  E60 MPH          Clay               IN   Emergency Mngr

            Wind briefly reaching 50-60 mph amid
            torrential rain with no hail.
            
0508 PM     Hail             3 W Reelsville          39.54N 87.01W
05/07/2024  E1.00 Inch       Putnam             IN   Public

            Report from mPING.

0510 PM     Hail             Reelsville              39.55N 86.97W
05/07/2024  E1.50 Inch       Putnam             IN   Emergency Mngr

0540 PM     Hail             2 NNE Belle Union       39.60N 86.68W
05/07/2024  E1.25 Inch       Putnam             IN   Public

0626 PM     Tstm Wnd Dmg     4 W Greenwood           39.62N 86.18W
05/07/2024                   Johnson            IN   Broadcast Media

            Thunderstorm winds downed a few 12 inch
            diameter trees along Fairview Road at
            Leaning Tree Road and Peterman Road. Some
            fences down and some roofs damaged. Time
            estimated from radar.

0630 PM     Hail             2 W Pimento             39.30N 87.43W
05/07/2024  E1.00 Inch       Vigo               IN   Trained Spotter

0639 PM     Hail             3 N Trafalgar           39.46N 86.16W
05/07/2024  E1.00 Inch       Johnson            IN   Public

            Along SR 135.

            Winds gusting to estimated 45 mph.
0655 PM     Hail             2 NW Brooklyn           39.56N 86.40W
05/07/2024  E1.75 Inch       Morgan             IN   Public

0722 PM     Hail             New Whiteland           39.56N 86.09W
05/07/2024  E1.00 Inch       Johnson            IN   Public

0722 PM     Hail             4 E Southport           39.65N 86.04W
05/07/2024  E1.00 Inch       Marion             IN   Public

            Report from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.).

0756 PM     Hail             3 S Marietta            39.39N 85.90W
05/07/2024  E1.00 Inch       Shelby             IN   Public

            Report from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.).

0758 PM     Hail             Manilla                 39.57N 85.62W
05/07/2024  E1.00 Inch       Rush               IN   Amateur Radio

0801 PM     Tstm Wnd Dmg     4 WSW Union City        40.19N 84.88W
05/07/2024                   Randolph           IN   Amateur Radio

            Thunderstorm winds downed 2 foot diameter
            tree onto road.

0805 PM     Tstm Wnd Dmg     3 SE Winchester         40.15N 84.93W
05/07/2024                   Randolph           IN   Emergency Mngr

            Late report of trees downed by thunderstorm
            winds with power outages.

0815 PM     Hail             3 SSW Paragon           39.35N 86.59W
05/07/2024  E1.00 Inch       Morgan             IN   Cocorahs

            Third hail producing storm following pea
            hail in first two rounds.
            
0831 PM     Hail             1 E Saint Paul          39.43N 85.61W
05/07/2024  E1.00 Inch       Decatur            IN   Public

0833 PM     Tstm Wnd Dmg     1 ENE Saint Paul        39.43N 85.61W
05/07/2024                   Decatur            IN   Public

            Thunderstorm winds snapped off tops of trees
            50 to 60 feet high.
            
0927 PM     Hail             3 SE Greensburg         39.31N 85.44W
05/07/2024  E1.00 Inch       Decatur            IN   Public

1050 PM     Hail             1 W Ellettsville        39.23N 86.63W
05/07/2024  E1.75 Inch       Monroe             IN   Amateur Radio

1126 PM     Tstm Wnd Dmg     Stone Head              39.13N 86.16W
05/07/2024                   Brown              IN   Public

            Large tree limb over SR 135.
            
            
            

Rain Reports

Rain reports from across central Indiana (note that amounts may not match your location exactly).

Environment

Warm and unstable air allowed thunderstorms to develop well ahead of an approaching cold front.

Figure 1: Surface Map at 8:00 PM EDT	Figure 2: Sounding from Wilmington, OH at 8 PM EDT	Figure 3: Mixed Layer CAPE at 7 PM EDT

Figure 4: Effective Bulk Shear at 7 PM EDT	Figure 5: Significant Tornado Parameter at 7 PM EDT

WoFS Highlights

Images coming soon.

Figure 1: Caption	Figure 2: Caption	Figure 3: Caption