What is a rain wrapped tornado? How do you spot one - as residents in US state Indiana report sightings amid 'sirens going off everywhere'

One resident in Indiana posted on X, formerly Twitter, last night (Wednesday 2 April) saying: “Rain wrapped tornado just passed north of me in Plainfield. Sirens going off everywhere.”

Another said: “A galore of tornado warnings entering into SW Indiana. It's a mess, so any tornado will be rain wrapped. Just take shelter.”

A "rain-wrapped tornado" is a tornado that is obscured by heavy rainfall and precipitation from the parent thunderstorm, making it difficult, or even impossible, to see visually. The heavy rain and precipitation associated with the thunderstorm can engulf the tornado, effectively hiding it from view.

Because they are difficult to spot, rain-wrapped tornadoes can be particularly dangerous, as people may be unaware of their presence until it's too late to take shelter. While visually difficult to spot, rain-wrapped tornadoes can be detected using radar or other weather monitoring tools.

One user on Reddit shared how they have experienced a rain wrapped tornado in the past, and described what it was like. The user wrote: “As someone who was hit by a rain wrapped tornado, its literally nothing but insane rain you cant see out of until death winds.”

There were at least 15 reports of tornadoes spanning at least six states, with damage reported in Missouri, Michigan, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Indiana. Videos posted on social media showed massive tornadoes tearing across the land, leaving devastation in its wake, as several people were left trapped inside their buildings.

Tornado watches and warnings were in place early today (Thursday 3 April) in a diagonal line stretching hundreds of miles northeast from Arkansas to Illinois. Some of the warnings were issued near Memphis, Louisville and Nashville.

More than 300,000 customers were without power early Thursday in Indiana, Ohio, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee. Over half were in Indiana.