Tornadoes · United States · Indiana

1986 tornadoes in Indiana

19 tornadoes touched down in Indiana in 1986, 16 percent below the average of the record for the state. They killed 1 people and injured 50.

1985 1987 The whole country in 1986

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 1986

March 10 8 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 10	1:28 PM EST	F3	Morgan	35.0	440		22	$500,000 to $5 million
March 10	1:55 PM EST	F1	Marion	2.5	220			$50,000 to $500,000
March 10	2:10 PM EST	F2	Shelby	10.0	300			$500,000 to $5 million
March 10	2:10 PM EST	F2	Shelby	17.8	150	1	1	$500,000 to $5 million
March 10	2:10 PM EST	F2	Hancock	5.0	220			$50,000 to $500,000
March 10	3:10 PM EST	F2	Scott	12.0	300		25	$500,000 to $5 million
March 10	3:40 PM EST	F2	Henry	4.0	300			$50,000 to $500,000
March 10	3:55 PM EST	F3	Randolph	7.6	440			$5 million to $50 million

May 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 7	5:20 PM EST	F1	Rush	0.2	10			$5,000 to $50,000

May 15 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 15	3:50 PM CDT	F0	Posey	0.2	10
May 15	3:55 PM CDT	F0	Vanderburgh	0.2	10
May 15	4:45 PM CDT	F2	Vanderburgh	0.2	10	$50,000 to $500,000
May 15	5:30 PM EST	F1	Dubois	0.2	10	$500 to $5,000
May 15	6:55 PM EST	F2	Daviess	0.2	10	$5,000 to $50,000
May 15	8:45 PM EST	F0	Fountain	5.0	140	$5,000 to $50,000

July 1 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 1	2:26 PM CDT	F0	Warrick	0.1	10

July 12 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 12	5:30 PM EST	F1	Wells	7.0	10			$500 to $5,000

August 26 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 26	6:06 PM EST	F2	Adams	5.0	10		2	$500,000 to $5 million

October 1 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 1	5:20 PM CDT	F0	Steuben to OH	16.0	10

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.