Tornadoes in Indiana
1,725 tornadoes since 1950, an average of 22.7 a year, 18th of the 53 states and territories in the record. They have killed 273 people and injured 4,629. 28 were rated F4 or EF4 and above, 2 of them F5 or EF5.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The United States rated tornadoes on Ted Fujita’s F scale until 31 January 2007 and on the Enhanced Fujita scale after it. Both run from 0 to 5, and both rate the damage rather than measure the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
F0 / EF040 to 72 mph on the F scale, 65 to 85 mph on the EF scale
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F1 / EF173 to 112 mph on the F scale, 86 to 110 mph on the EF scale
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
F2 / EF2113 to 157 mph on the F scale, 111 to 135 mph on the EF scale
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
F3 / EF3158 to 206 mph on the F scale, 136 to 165 mph on the EF scale
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
F4 / EF4207 to 260 mph on the F scale, 166 to 200 mph on the EF scale
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
F5 / EF5261 to 318 mph on the F scale, over 200 mph on the EF scale
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.
The deadliest in Indiana
- F4, Saint Joseph, Elkhart and LaGrange counties, IndianaApril 11, 1965
- F4, Elkhart County, IndianaApril 11, 1965
- F4, Montgomery, Boone and Hamilton counties, IndianaApril 11, 1965
- F4, Clinton, Howard and Grant counties, IndianaApril 11, 1965
- F4, Steuben, Branch, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties, Indiana and MichiganApril 11, 1965
- F4, Benton, Tippecanoe, White and Cass counties, IndianaApril 3, 1974
- EF4, Washington, Clark, Scott, Jefferson and Trimble counties, Indiana and KentuckyMarch 2, 2012
- F4, Clark, Scott, Jefferson and Ripley counties, IndianaApril 3, 1974
- F3, Starke, Marshall, Saint Joseph and Elkhart counties, IndianaApril 11, 1965
- F4, Gibson and Pike counties, IndianaJune 2, 1990
- F5, Perry, Crawford, Harrison and Washington counties, IndianaApril 3, 1974
- F3, Noble, LaGrange and Steuben counties, IndianaApril 3, 1974
The strongest
- F5, Perry, Crawford, Harrison and Washington counties, IndianaApril 3, 1974
- F5, Ohio, Boone and Hamilton counties, Indiana and Kentucky and OhioApril 3, 1974
- F4, Benton, Tippecanoe, White and Cass counties, IndianaApril 3, 1974
- F4, Steuben, Branch, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties, Indiana and MichiganApril 11, 1965
- F4, Shelby, Rush, Fayette, Union and Preble counties, Indiana and OhioApril 25, 1961
- F4, Blackford, Wells, Adams, Mercer and Van Wert counties, Indiana and OhioApril 11, 1965
- F4, Clinton, Howard and Grant counties, IndianaApril 11, 1965
- EF4, Washington, Clark, Scott, Jefferson and Trimble counties, Indiana and KentuckyMarch 2, 2012
- F4, Montgomery, Boone and Hamilton counties, IndianaApril 11, 1965
- F4, Saint Joseph, Elkhart and LaGrange counties, IndianaApril 11, 1965
- F4, Clark, Scott, Jefferson and Ripley counties, IndianaApril 3, 1974
- F4, Bartholomew, Decatur and Franklin counties, IndianaApril 3, 1974
The longest paths
- F3, Monroe, Morgan, Johnson and Marion counties, IndianaSeptember 20, 2002
- F4, Benton, Tippecanoe, White and Cass counties, IndianaApril 3, 1974
- F4, Steuben, Branch, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties, Indiana and MichiganApril 11, 1965
- F3, Lawrence, Jackson and Jennings counties, IndianaApril 19, 1963
- F2, Sullivan, Clay, Putnam and Hendricks counties, IndianaMay 27, 1973
- F5, Perry, Crawford, Harrison and Washington counties, IndianaApril 3, 1974
- F4, Shelby, Rush, Fayette, Union and Preble counties, Indiana and OhioApril 25, 1961
- EF2, Gibson, Pike and Daviess counties, IndianaMarch 15, 2025
- F4, Blackford, Wells, Adams, Mercer and Van Wert counties, Indiana and OhioApril 11, 1965
- F3, Wabash, Huntington and Allen counties, IndianaMay 16, 1968
- F4, Clinton, Howard and Grant counties, IndianaApril 11, 1965
- F3, Saint Joseph, Berrien, Cass and Saint Joseph counties, Indiana and MichiganOctober 24, 2001
The costliest
- F3, Monroe, Morgan, Johnson and Marion counties, IndianaSeptember 20, 2002
- EF4, Washington, Clark, Scott, Jefferson and Trimble counties, Indiana and KentuckyMarch 2, 2012
- EF2, Marion and Hancock counties, IndianaMay 30, 2008
- EF3, Randolph, Darke and Miami counties, Indiana and OhioMarch 14, 2024
- EF2, Brown, Johnson and Shelby counties, IndianaJune 3, 2008
- F2, Marion and Hancock counties, IndianaMay 30, 2004
- EF3, Marshall, Kosciusko and Elkhart counties, IndianaOctober 18, 2007
- F3, Daviess and Martin counties, IndianaNovember 15, 2005
- EF2, Blackford, Delaware, Jay and Mercer counties, Indiana and OhioNovember 5, 2017
- EF3, Howard County, IndianaAugust 24, 2016
- F0, Steuben County, IndianaMay 18, 1997
- F3, Saint Joseph, Berrien, Cass and Saint Joseph counties, Indiana and MichiganOctober 24, 2001
The biggest days in Indiana
Every year
| Year | Tornadoes | Deaths | Injuries | F4 and above |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 60 | 1 | 7 | |
| 2024 | 52 | 1 | 75 | |
| 2023 | 53 | 3 | 6 | |
| 2022 | 14 | |||
| 2021 | 19 | 1 | ||
| 2020 | 15 | |||
| 2019 | 31 | 5 | ||
| 2018 | 16 | |||
| 2017 | 29 | 12 | ||
| 2016 | 42 | 20 | ||
| 2015 | 21 | |||
| 2014 | 27 | |||
| 2013 | 41 | 10 | ||
| 2012 | 18 | 14 | 5 | 1 |
| 2011 | 73 | 2 | ||
| 2010 | 27 | 4 | ||
| 2009 | 9 | 1 | ||
| 2008 | 30 | 4 | 33 | |
| 2007 | 19 | 1 | ||
| 2006 | 25 | 5 | ||
| 2005 | 14 | 32 | ||
| 2004 | 47 | 1 | 49 | |
| 2003 | 25 | |||
| 2002 | 15 | 1 | 152 | |
| 2001 | 23 | 2 | 24 | |
| 2000 | 13 | 3 | ||
| 1999 | 10 | 3 | ||
| 1998 | 33 | 17 | 1 | |
| 1997 | 15 | 2 | ||
| 1996 | 30 | 6 | ||
| 1995 | 11 | 3 | 24 | |
| 1994 | 16 | 3 | 75 | 1 |
| 1993 | 10 | 8 | ||
| 1992 | 45 | 70 | ||
| 1991 | 14 | 1 | 24 | |
| 1990 | 45 | 8 | 220 | 4 |
| 1989 | 25 | 14 | ||
| 1988 | 13 | 8 | ||
| 1987 | 16 | 3 | ||
| 1986 | 19 | 1 | 50 | |
| 1985 | 8 | 2 | ||
| 1984 | 4 | |||
| 1983 | 5 | |||
| 1982 | 4 | |||
| 1981 | 11 | |||
| 1980 | 35 | 5 | 61 | 1 |
| 1979 | 14 | 1 | 3 | |
| 1978 | 22 | 6 | ||
| 1977 | 14 | 1 | 5 | |
| 1976 | 36 | 3 | 59 | 1 |
| 1975 | 23 | 29 | ||
| 1974 | 29 | 50 | 1047 | 8 |
| 1973 | 48 | 2 | ||
| 1972 | 6 | 20 | 1 | |
| 1971 | 14 | 1 | 14 | |
| 1970 | 19 | 13 | ||
| 1969 | 19 | 13 | ||
| 1968 | 15 | 1 | 25 | |
| 1967 | 31 | 16 | ||
| 1966 | 12 | 1 | ||
| 1965 | 44 | 162 | 2142 | 8 |
| 1964 | 8 | 4 | ||
| 1963 | 26 | 2 | 21 | |
| 1962 | 14 | 54 | ||
| 1961 | 32 | 1 | 29 | 1 |
| 1960 | 13 | 1 | ||
| 1959 | 16 | |||
| 1958 | 24 | 4 | ||
| 1957 | 27 | 3 | ||
| 1956 | 33 | 1 | 52 | 1 |
| 1955 | 14 | 22 | ||
| 1954 | 32 | 2 | 4 | |
| 1953 | 5 | |||
| 1952 | 1 | |||
| 1951 | 4 | 6 | ||
| 1950 | 3 |
Every county in Indiana
A tornado is counted once for every county its path crossed, so these add up to more than 1,725. Each county has a page of its own: every tornado that crossed it, year by year.
Nearby
Warnings in force in IndianaForecast for your townThe live radar over Indiana
What this means
Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.
Sources
NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.