Tornadoes and Hail in Indiana, March 12, 1976

Name: Tornadoes and Hail in Indiana, March 12, 1976
Start: 1976-03-12T13:50
End: 1976-03-12T17:16
Location: Indiana

March 12, 1976 · 26 events in 17 counties and zones

18 tornado, 5 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 2
Injuries: 43
Property damage: $1.7 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 26

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

Event by event

18 tornado, 5 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Lake

When: March 12, 1:50 PM CST
Where: Lake County
Coordinates: 41.230, -87.300

Tornado, Lake

When: March 12, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Lake County
Rating: F2
Path length: 2.3 mi
Path width: 200 yd
Property damage: $3,000
Coordinates: 41.450, -87.270

Tornado, Porter

When: March 12, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Porter County
Rating: F3
Path width: 200 yd
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 41.700, -86.970

Hail, Porter

When: March 12, 2:05 PM CST
Where: Porter County
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Coordinates: 41.470, -87.050

Tornado, Porter

When: March 12, 2:08 PM CST
Where: Porter County
Rating: F2
Path length: 3.3 mi
Path width: 33 yd
Property damage: $3,000
Coordinates: 41.480, -87.220

Tornado, La Porte

When: March 12, 2:15 PM CST
Where: La Porte County
Rating: F3
Path length: 12.6 mi
Path width: 200 yd
Injuries: 7 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 41.680, -86.930

Tornado, Benton

When: March 12, 2:20 PM CST
Where: Benton County
Rating: F0
Path length: 3.8 mi
Path width: 27 yd
Property damage: $250
Coordinates: 40.600, -87.170

Tornado, Tippecanoe

When: March 12, 2:25 PM CST
Where: Tippecanoe County
Rating: F1
Path length: 5.2 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Coordinates: 40.450, -87.000

Tornado, Newton

When: March 12, 2:30 PM CST
Where: Newton County
Rating: F3
Path length: 13.9 mi
Path width: 250 yd
Injuries: 7 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 41.080, -87.530

Hail, Tippecanoe

When: March 12, 2:30 PM CST
Where: Tippecanoe County
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Coordinates: 40.370, -86.800

Tornado, Newton

When: March 12, 2:35 PM CST
Where: Newton County
Rating: F1
Path length: 11.6 mi
Path width: 80 yd
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 40.770, -87.430

Tornado, Jasper

When: March 12, 2:50 PM CST
Where: Jasper County
Rating: F3
Path length: 6.6 mi
Path width: 250 yd
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 8 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 41.170, -87.280

Tornado, Jasper

When: March 12, 2:55 PM CST
Where: Jasper County
Rating: F3
Path length: 8 mi
Path width: 250 yd
Coordinates: 41.250, -87.200

Tornado, Jasper

When: March 12, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Jasper County
Rating: F1
Path length: 5.7 mi
Path width: 33 yd
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 40.880, -87.270

Tornado, Starke

When: March 12, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Starke County
Rating: F3
Path length: 12.1 mi
Path width: 40 yd
Injuries: 4 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 41.280, -86.650

Thunderstorm Wind, Elkhart

When: March 12, 3:14 PM CST
Where: Elkhart County
Coordinates: 41.530, -85.950

Tornado, Marshall

When: March 12, 3:15 PM CST
Where: Marshall County
Rating: F1
Path length: 4.1 mi
Path width: 30 yd
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 41.320, -86.350

Hail, Marshall

When: March 12, 3:15 PM CST
Where: Marshall County
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Coordinates: 41.470, -86.320

Tornado, Montgomery

When: March 12, 3:25 PM CST
Where: Montgomery County
Rating: F0
Path length: 8.5 mi
Path width: 40 yd
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 39.980, -86.950

Tornado, Lagrange

When: March 12, 3:30 PM CST
Where: Lagrange County
Rating: F2
Path length: 10.1 mi
Path width: 127 yd
Injuries: 8 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 41.680, -85.500

Tornado, Lagrange

When: March 12, 3:35 PM CST
Where: Lagrange County
Rating: F2
Path length: 9.3 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Injuries: 9 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 41.630, -85.630

Tornado, Allen

When: March 12, 3:50 PM CST
Where: Allen County
Rating: F1
Path length: 0.1 mi
Path width: 17 yd
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 41.070, -85.020

Hail, Howard

When: March 12, 3:59 PM CST
Where: Howard County
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Coordinates: 40.570, -86.150

Hail, Knox

When: March 12, 4:05 PM CST
Where: Knox County
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Coordinates: 38.620, -87.350

Tornado, Wayne

When: March 12, 4:40 PM CST
Where: Wayne County
Rating: F1
Path length: 10.9 mi
Path width: 127 yd
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 39.820, -85.000

Thunderstorm Wind, Delaware

When: March 12, 5:16 PM CST
Where: Delaware County
Measured: 62 kt (71 mph)
Coordinates: 40.180, -85.400

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Tornado, Jasper	1976-03-12				Direct
Tornado, Allen	1976-03-12				Direct

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Indiana in 1976 Every state in 1976 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Indiana, 1976

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 10018336, 10018337, 10018338, 10018339, 10019185, 10019186, 10019401, 10019402, 10019403, 10019404, 10019405, 10019406, 10019407, 10019408, 10019409, 10019410, 10019411, 10019412, 10019413, 10019414, 10019415, 10019416, 10019417, 10019418, 10019419, 10019420.