1845 Montville tornado

Meteorological synopsis

Around midday, a storm broke out in the Rouen region, causing heavy rain. The tornado formed around 1 PM near the commune of Le Houlme and moved through the Cailly valley towards Malaunay, quickly acquiring gigantic force. On its path, it destroyed homes and uprooted hundreds of trees, some of which were swept away whole in the tornado. In the industrial valley, three large mills, at least one of which was newly built, were leveled and partly swept clean. One of the mills was a four-story structure that likely collapsed. Large debris was carried 30 km (19 mi) and mature trees were thrown "very far." In Malaunay, the Neveu spinning mill, a solid four-story building, was destroyed, followed by the Mare Frères workshops in the same commune and the Picquot-Deschamps spinning mill in Montville.

According to analyses at the time, the tornado continued its path through the forests of Clères until it had travelled around 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) in total, before dissipating near the commune of Grugny.