National Weather Service officials determined Thursday afternoon the storm was an EF-0 tornado. Pulaski County Sheriff Mike Gayer said he has talked to at least three witnesses to the storm who reported they saw a "clear funnel."

County emergency officials were first alerted to the storm by reports of a tornado in the Rensselaer area, but the information did not arrive in time to process the reports and sound the tornado sirens in Francesville. The area, however, was under a tornado watch issued earlier in the morning by the NWS.

Francesville Fire Chief Tim Wuethrich told WKVI News that the local firemen, alerted to the possible tornado in Rensselaer, had just arrived at the main station downtown when the storm hit.

Students at West Central Schools north of Francesville were alerted to the approaching storm and took cover. Some sheriff's department deputies had just arrived at the school as escorts to a patriotic motorcycle squad which makes an annual Memorial Day visit to the school. All took shelter at the school.

Sheriff Gayer said the tornado appeared to touch down and lift several times as it traveled in a northeasterly direction through Francesville. He said it first touched down south of town near U.S. 421 and CR 550S where it took down power lines along the highway. The funnel then lifted for a couple of blocks before it took out a storage shed and dumped it into nearby pine trees. The tornado lifted again for another block and then tore down some old trees, the sheriff said.The fire station building was the next target in the storm's path, before the tail rose once again for two blocks and then took down more trees, knocking them into nearby houses.

The storm continued to travel through Pulaski County, crossing by Pulaski and then Star City, but the funnel never dropped again. Gayer said there were no other reports of damage in the county.

After the storm struck Francesville, the tornado sirens were sounded in Winamac, and all five of the county's fire departments were put on storm watch. Factories, schools, libraries and other organizations in the county were alerted to the storm.

U.S. 421 in Francesville was closed for a time while storm damage was cleared.

Also on Thursday, the NWS confirmed that two EF-1 tornadoes touched down in Jasper County Wednesday morning. One of those storms diminished slightly into the tornado that later struck Francesville.