Tornadoes · United States · Indiana

1976 tornadoes in Indiana

36 tornadoes touched down in Indiana in 1976, 59 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 3 people and injured 59. 1 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

1975 1977 The whole country in 1976

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
F2113 to 157 mph
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.
F3158 to 206 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
F5261 to 318 mph
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.

Every tornado in Indiana in 1976

January 13 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
January 13	2:15 PM EST	F1	Daviess	2.0	100	$5,000 to $50,000
January 13	3:14 PM EST	F1	Jackson	0.8	77	$5,000 to $50,000
January 13	3:50 PM EST	F0	Harrison	1.0	50	$5,000 to $50,000

February 16 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 16	6:30 PM EST	F0	Fountain	0.1	10			$500 to $5,000

March 4 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 4	9:00 PM CST	F1	Lake	2.0	100			$5,000 to $50,000

March 12 12 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 12	2:00 PM CST	F2	Lake	5.6	200			$500 to $5,000
March 12	2:00 PM CST	F3	Porter	12.6	200		7	$50,000 to $500,000
March 12	3:20 PM EST	F0	Benton	3.8	27			$50 to $500
March 12	3:25 PM EST	F1	Tippecanoe	5.2	100
March 12	2:35 PM CST	F1	Newton	17.3	80			$5,000 to $50,000
March 12	3:00 PM CST	F3	Starke	12.1	40		4	$5,000 to $50,000
March 12	4:15 PM EST	F1	Marshall	4.1	30			$5,000 to $50,000
March 12	4:25 PM EST	F0	Montgomery	8.5	40			$5,000 to $50,000
March 12	3:30 PM CST	F2	LaGrange to MI	13.4	127		8	$5,000 to $50,000
March 12	4:35 PM EST	F2	LaGrange	9.3	100		9	$50,000 to $500,000
March 12	4:50 PM EST	F1	Allen	0.1	17	1		$5,000 to $50,000
March 12	5:40 PM EST	F1	Wayne	10.9	127			$50,000 to $500,000

March 20 8 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
March 20	4:20 PM EST	F4	Tippecanoe	16.7	300	8	$500,000 to $5 million
March 20	4:30 PM EST	F0	Vigo	13.9	40		$5,000 to $50,000
March 20	4:59 PM EST	F2	Marshall	11.6	77	10	$50,000 to $500,000
March 20	5:10 PM EST	F2	Putnam	24.9	200		$5,000 to $50,000
March 20	5:30 PM EST	F0	Hamilton	1.0	30		$50,000 to $500,000
March 20	5:35 PM EST	F0	Hendricks	6.9	30		$500 to $5,000
March 20	6:27 PM EST	F1	Madison	5.1	100		$5,000 to $50,000
March 20	6:35 PM EST	F0	Henry	0.1	17

June 15 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 15	7:40 PM EST	F0	Howard	1.3	80		1	$50,000 to $500,000

June 24 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 24	8:20 PM EDT	F0	Dearborn	0.1	10
June 24	10:10 PM EST	F2	Owen	2.3	100			$50,000 to $500,000

June 29 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 29	5:00 PM EST	F1	Marion	1.0	50			$5,000 to $50,000
June 29	6:43 PM CDT	F0	Lake	1.0	60			$500 to $5,000

July 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 7	10:35 PM EST	F0	Carroll	0.5	50			$500 to $5,000

July 15 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 15	4:41 PM EST	F0	Adams	0.1	10

August 25 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 25	8:20 AM EST	F0	Fayette	0.3	30

September 26 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 26	5:07 PM EST	F1	Bartholomew	19.8	60		1	$50,000 to $500,000
September 26	5:23 PM EST	F3	Jackson	4.9	100	1	10	$500,000 to $5 million
September 26	5:55 PM EST	F3	Jefferson	14.6	300	1	1	$50,000 to $500,000

Crossed into Indiana

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Indiana. They are counted under the state they began in.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 12	1:35 PM CST	F3	Kankakee, IL to IN	38.5	250	1	15	$50,000 to $500,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Indiana since 1950 Warnings in force in Indiana The 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.