Indianapolis, IN

Weather Forecast Office

Tornadoes and Severe Weather of April 19, 1996

Overview

Supercell thunderstorms moved across central Indiana during the evening of April 19 and 20. The storms brought 7 tornadoes to central Indiana, along with 3 inch diameter hail and damaging wind gusts. Two people were killed by falling trees due to the severe storms, and a 5 people were injured by a tornado.

Supercell Thunderstorm from April 19, 1996

Tornadoes
Radar
Storm Reports
Environment

Tornadoes:

Tornado #1
Morgan and Johnson Counties

Date	April 19, 1996
Time (Local)	7:40 to 7:48 PM EST
F Rating	1
Path Length	5 miles
Max Width	100 yards
Injuries/Deaths	5 Injured
Summary: A supercell having produced golfball to baseball size hail from eastern Illinois to central Indiana produced a weak tornado in the south suburbs of Indianapolis. In Morgan county the tornado destroyed 6 buildings and damaged nearly 50 others. The main damage was between Five Points and Waverly and was concentrated in the Fox Hill area.

Track Map

Track map, courtesy of the Midwest Regional Climate Center. Click to enlarge.

Tornado #2
Knox County

Date	April 19, 1996
Time (Local)	10:15 PM EST
F Rating	0
Path Length	1 mile
Max Width	50 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0
Summary: Weak tornado near the Purdue Agricultural Center blew over two train cars and destroyed a pole barn.

Track Map (not available)

Tornado #3
Lawrence County

Date	April 19, 1996
Time (Local)	11:57 PM
F Rating	0
Path Length	1 mile
Max Width	75 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0
Summary: Weak tornado touched down near Heltonville damaging several homes and numerous trees. Tornado also associated with a downbusrt wind damage in same general area. Downburst winds and damage were as severe as the tornadoes.

Track Map

Track map, courtesy of the Midwest Regional Climate Center. Click to enlarge.

Tornado #4
Jackson County

Date	April 20, 1996
Time (Local)	12:05 AM EST
F Rating	0
Path Length	1 mile
Max Width	50
Injuries/Deaths	0
Summary: Brief tornado touchdown.

Track Map

Track map, courtesy of the Midwest Regional Climate Center. Click to enlarge.

Tornado #5
Bartholomew County

Date	April 20, 1996
Time (Local)	12:45 AM EST
F Rating	1
Path Length	1 mile
Max Width	50 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0
Summary: A supercell produced a brief tornado along with downburst winds as it tracked east-northeast. The tornado destroyed several farm buildings and a high power transmission tower. .

Track Map (not available)

Tornado #6
Decatur County

Date	April 20, 1996
Time (Local)	12:55 AM EST
F Rating	0
Path Length	0.1 mile
Max Width	50 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0
Summary: Weak tornado destroyed several farm buildings, blew down an electrical transmission tower and caused some damage to the South Decatur High School. .

Track Map (not available)

Tornado #7
Decatur County

Date	April 20, 1996
Time (Local)	1:01 AM EST
F Rating	1
Path Length	1.2 miles
Max Width	75 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0
Summary: Weak tornado destroyed several buildings and damaged several more. Numerous trees were uprooted also. This storm was one of two to produce significant damage in the county.

Track Map

Track map, courtesy of the Midwest Regional Climate Center. Click to enlarge.

Radar:


Radar image from 5:49 PM EST. Click to Enlarge	Radar image from 6:19 PM EST. Click to Enlarge

Radar data after 6:30 PM is not available for this event.

Storm Reports

Map of reports, provided by the Storm Prediction Center. Click for a larger version. Note: Not all final reports may appear on this map

Below is a table of selected reports from this event. Tornado events are not listed here. Please see the Tornado tab for more information. For a full list of reports, please see this excerpt from the Storm Data publication for April 1996.

Time (EST)	Location	County	Event
5:20 PM	St. Bernice	Vermillion	2.75" hail
5:30 PM	2 miles south of Rockville	Parke	2.75" hail
7:05 PM	Plainfield	Hendricks	3.00" hail
7:15 PM	Beech Grove	Marion	2.00" hail
7:40 PM	South Side Indianapolis	Marion	Strong downburst winds (from the same storm that produced the Morgan County Tornado) damaged 12 homes
10:57 PM	6 miles northwest Greenfield	Hancock	75 mph wind gust
12:04 AM	15 miles west of Seymour	Jackson	Downburst winds killed two campers in the Hoosier National Forest in northwest Jackson County around midnight. The downburst winds blew down hundreds of pine trees, many of which fell on the campers in their tent.

Environment

A warm front moved north through central Indiana during the 19th. A cold front moved in on the 20th. Warm, humid air flowed into the area behind the front. Thunderstorms developed and produced severe weather during the late afternoon of the 19th and into the early morning hours of the 20th.


Surface map at 7:00 AM EST April 19. Click to Enlarge	Model reanalysis valid at 7:00 PM April 19. Click to Enlarge.

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