On February 19, the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center (SPC) posted an updated categorical outlook that had parts of southern Illinois and Indiana in the 10 percent risk factor for tornadoes, 65 percent for wind, and an enhanced rating for severe weather in general.
At 6:00 pm that night, a very strong supercell formed in southwestern Indiana with a track going northwest. This storm was the southernmost storm in a cluster spanning from Monroe county all the way up to Logansport, and it just so happened to be the strongest.
Starting around 6:45 PM, doppler radar was showing high gate-to-gate shear and a very clear hook echo, and what is called a “debris ball” pointing towards there being a strong tornado on the ground heading directly towards downtown Bloomington.
That fact led to the Indianapolis NWS issuing the first “particularly dangerous situation” or PDS tornado warning of 2026. PDS warnings are the third most urgent out of the four types of warnings. The only step above PDS is “Tornado Emergency” which is only used in situations where there is a very dangerous tornado on the ground that is about to hit a heavily populated area. According to the NWS damage assessors, the tornado reached a maximum wind speed of 120 mph which gives it an EF2 rating.
The Weather Service reaches its EF ratings based on damage the tornado does along its path, and in this particular case it collapsed the exterior walls of a well built house as well as snapped the trunk of a nearby hardwood tree. Luckily, no people were injured and there was not a significant amount of damage done to the town as a whole.
