Indiana, 2002

Tornadoes in Indiana, September 20, 2002

September 20, 2002 · NWS IND · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

One of Indiana's longest tracking tornados formed along a squall line on the morning of September 20. The tornado touched down near Ellettsville in Monroe county and then remained on the ground for 112 miles before lifting in Blackford county.

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
0
Injuries
127
Property damage
$103 million
Crop damage
$125,000
Events
8

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS IND wrote it up.

One of Indiana's longest tracking tornados formed along a squall line on the morning of September 20. The tornado touched down near Ellettsville in Monroe county and then remained on the ground for 112 miles before lifting in Blackford county. The tornado produced F3 damage at its strongest points. Nearly 100 single family homes were destroyed, along with several mobile homes. Some apartments were also destroyed. Many businesses and hundreds of homes received damage. Several counties were declared disaster areas.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Indianapolis, IN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 20, 3:05 AM EST, 9 hours 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 20, 3:05 AM EST, 9 hours 54 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
305 AM EST FRI SEP 20 2002

TIMING OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH TONIGHT AND TEMPS IN MOST
OTHER PERIODS ARE THE MAIN FORECAST PROBLEMS.

SHOWERS HAVE CONTINUED THE NIGHT OVER AT LEAST THE WEST 2/3 OF OUR
FORECAST AREA. RADAR SATELLITE AND WX DEPICTION AT 07Z SHOWS MORE
NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ALONG AND JUST WEST OF MISSISSIPPI
RIVER.  CD FNT WAS OVER ERN IOWA AND CENTRAL MISSOURI.  MODELS ARE IN
IN GOOD AGREEMENT MOVG CD FNT TO JUST EAST OF A KFWA-KIND LN BY 00Z
AND TO ERN KENTUCKY BY 12Z SATURDAY. THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BECOME MORE
NUMEROUS THIS AFTN AS CD FNT MOVS THRU.  ETA CAPES ABOUT 1100 J/KG
THIS AFTN AND WINDS AT 850 ABOUT 40-50 KNOTS WHICH AGREES WITH SPC
SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. PRECIPITABLE WATER ALSO JUST
OVER 2 INCHES AND SOME AREAS COULD SEE POSSIBLY AN INCH OR TWO OF
RAIN TODAY.

AFTER THIS EVENING DRY AND COOLER WEATHER WILL BE THE RULE THROUGH
THE NEXT WEEK.  MODELS SHOW A DRY SECONDARY CD FNT MOVG ACROSS OUR
AREA DURING THE DAY SATURDAY AND MRF SHOWS MAIN S/W MOVG THROUGH
SUNDAY AND AGAIN BY THURSDAY. BOTH HAVE LIMITED RH TO WORK WITH...SO
WILL KEEP FORECAST DRY.

WILL GO WITH A BLEND OF FWC/MAV TEMPS NEXT FEW DAYS.

.IND...NONE.
HENDRICKSON

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 20, 12:00 PM EST, 59 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
1200 PM EST FRI SEP 20 2002

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1150 AM    MONROE CITY               IN   TORNADO
09/20/02   KNOX                           TREES DOWNED.  PEOPLE
                                          POSSIBLY TRAPPED IN
                                          HOUSE. REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.
Local storm report, Sep 20, 12:02 PM EST, 57 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
1202 PM EST FRI SEP 20 2002

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1157 AM    LYONS                     IN   FUNNEL CLOUD
09/20/02   GREENE                         REPORTED BY PUBLIC.
Local storm report, Sep 20, 12:51 PM EST, 8 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
1251 PM EST FRI SEP 20 2002

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1240 PM    1 N WORTHINGTON           IN    MPH TSTM GUST
09/20/02   GREENE                         TREE LIMBS DOWN.
                                          REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

The radar

The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 60 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:58 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Monroe

When
September 20, 12:59 PM EST to 1:05 PM EST
Where
Monroe County, Ellettsville
Rating
F3
Path length
10.5 mi
Path width
150 yd
Property damage
$10 million
Crop damage
$20,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.233, -86.617

Tornado, Morgan

When
September 20, 1:05 PM EST to 1:35 PM EST
Where
Morgan County, 7 mi SW of Martinsville
Rating
F3
Path length
20 mi
Path width
150 yd
Injuries
28 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$15 million
Crop damage
$30,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.367, -86.533

Tornado, Johnson

When
September 20, 1:35 PM EST to 1:42 PM EST
Where
Johnson County, 8 mi SW of Greenwood
Rating
F3
Path length
7.5 mi
Path width
150 yd
Property damage
$25 million
Crop damage
$10,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
39.533, -86.217

Tornado, Marion

When
September 20, 1:42 PM EST to 2:03 PM EST
Where
Marion County, 2 mi S of Southport
Rating
F2
Path length
17.5 mi
Path width
150 yd
Injuries
97 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$40 million
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.633, -86.117

Tornado, Hancock

When
September 20, 2:03 PM EST to 2:11 PM EST
Where
Hancock County, 1 mi SW of Mc Cordsville
Rating
F0
Path length
8.5 mi
Path width
100 yd
Property damage
$2.0 million
Crop damage
$20,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
39.883, -85.933

Tornado, Hamilton

When
September 20, 2:11 PM EST to 2:13 PM EST
Where
Hamilton County, 7 mi SE of Fishers
Rating
F0
Path length
1 mi
Path width
100 yd
Property damage
$25,000
Crop damage
$5,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
39.900, -85.917

Tornado, Madison

When
September 20, 2:13 PM EST to 2:54 PM EST
Where
Madison County, 6 mi SW of Pendleton
Rating
F2
Path length
26 mi
Path width
150 yd
Injuries
2 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$8.0 million
Crop damage
$25,000
Reported by
AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates
39.933, -85.833

Tornado, Delaware

When
September 20, 2:54 PM EST to 3:10 PM EST
Where
Delaware County, 10 mi NW of Muncie
Rating
F2
Path length
11 mi
Path width
100 yd
Property damage
$3.0 million
Crop damage
$15,000
Reported by
NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates
40.283, -85.533

What these are

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.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Indiana in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Indiana, 2002Warnings in Indiana, September 2002

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: 5315471, 5315472, 5315473, 5315474, 5315475, 5315476, 5315477, 5315478.