Mother Nature can be a fickle friend at any time of the year, but during late spring and early summer, she has the potential to be particularly dangerous. “Tornadoes can occur year-round anywhere over the lower 48 of the United States, but the spring to summer period is prime time for severe thunderstorms that spawn the violent swirling columns of air. Building warmth and surging humidity are key ingredients for thunderstorms which, when severe, can evolve to produce tornadoes. “Severe thunderstorms will typically form when we get warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico clashing with cool air from Canada and sometimes dry air from the deserts,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Edwards said. In order for severe thunderstorms to form, there must be a mechanism for air to rise in vigorous fashion. As a column of air rises through the atmosphere, it cools and causes moisture within to form the towering clouds we see as thunderstorms. The more moisture available and the cooler the air is aloft, the more efficient and potentially the more violent this process is. A push of dry air or cooler air from the outside can also intensify this process. … “Traditionally, severe weather and tornado season peak from April through June,” Edwards said. “May has the most tornadoes, but April often has the strongest tornadoes and June has the most number of days with tornadoes,” Edwards explained.”ⁱ

Now that we know the mechanics, let’s take a look at a particularly devastating tornado that tore through Petersburg, IN on June 2, 1990. Petersburg is in Pike County, about 40 miles north of Evansville; in 1990 its population was at a peak of about 2900. June 2, 1990 was a particularly stormy day throughout the region, with 65 total tornadoes, 37 of which tore across Indiana. Seven of these were rated F4.

Petersburg was hit by a tornado about 8:17 p.m. “7 people died in, or as a result of the F4 twister. It entered Pike County west of the community of Union and ripped through a home killing an older couple….It went by Hornady Park where a music festival was taking place and tore trees from the park and destroyed vehicles and campers parked around the 4H building. About 50 to 60 people were inside the small block building including this reporter, clinging to what ever they could. Miraculously no one at the festival was hurt. The tornado traveled almost directly down Pike Avenue. It severely damaged a nursing home, crossed state road 57 and leveled a gas station.  It also severely damaged the Petersburg Moose Lodge then located where German American Bank is now.  A wedding reception was happening and those attending helped with the dazed and injured there.  The tornado then went through a residential area next to downtown and destroyed nearly 200 homes including the home of then Mayor Jack Kinman. It also took out 19 businesses and the Petersburg Elementary School.”ⁱⁱ

This was but one in a series of storms that tore across the southern part of our state on that day. The first came from Illinois and was on the ground for 110 miles. It entered Indiana from Mount Carmel, IL and caused damage in the Indiana counties of Knox, Gibson, Pike, Daviess, Martin, Orange, Lawrence, in the 5:20 p.m. time frame. Another hit Lawrence County at 7:50 p.m. Next was Gibson and Pike Counties, including Petersburg, at 8:17 p.m. Jackson County was hit at 8:20 p.m. The last in the series was on the ground for only 4 miles in Dearborn County at 10:00 p.m., before the storms exited Indiana and continued their path of destruction in Ohio. According to the New York Times, the entire weekend saw at least 13 deaths across Wisconsin, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio. A child was also killed in central Indiana.

The following photographs were all taken by Eric Braysmith, adjunct in Liberal Arts.

Resources Consulted
25th Anniversary of Petersburg Tornado.  TriState Homepage.com. June 2, 2015.
It’s been 30 years since the Petersburg tornado.  Wamwamfm.com article, June 2, 2020.
June 2, 1990 Tornado Outbreak.  National Weather Service, Indianapolis, IN Weather Forecast Office. 
Sosnowski, Alex.  “When does tornado season hit its peak across the US?  AccuWeather.com, March 31, 2020.
“Storms Leave 13 Dead in Midwest; Indiana Twisters Worst Since '74.”  New York Times: June 4, 1990, p.A18
Violent Tornado in Southeast Indiana and Southwest Ohio.  National Weather Service, Wilmington, OH Weather Forecast Office. 
Violent Tornadoes in Indiana.  National Weather Service, Louisville, KY Weather Forecast Office.


End Notes
iSosnowski
iiIt’s been