Tornadoes · United States · Indiana

1990 tornadoes in Indiana

45 tornadoes touched down in Indiana in 1990, 98 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 8 people and injured 220. 4 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

1989 1991 The whole country in 1990

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 1990

April 28 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 28	2:50 PM EST	F0	Sullivan	0.2	30			$5,000 to $50,000

May 4 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 4	5:40 PM EST	F0	Franklin	0.1	20			$5,000 to $50,000

June 2 33 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 2	5:15 PM EST	F0	Vermillion	1.0	40			$5,000 to $50,000
June 2	5:23 PM EST	F0	Parke	0.5	50
June 2	5:28 PM EST	F0	Parke	0.2	30			$500 to $5,000
June 2	5:45 PM EST	F0	Parke	0.5	20
June 2	5:45 PM EST	F0	Sullivan	0.1	30
June 2	5:50 PM EST	F2	Montgomery	10.0	100		12	$500,000 to $5 million
June 2	6:00 PM EST	F0	Parke	0.2	20
June 2	6:10 PM EST	F1	Boone	4.5	30		1	$5,000 to $50,000
June 2	6:10 PM EST	F0	Cass	0.1	20
June 2	6:19 PM EST	F3	Daviess	7.0	200			$50,000 to $500,000
June 2	6:25 PM EST	F1	Clinton	6.0	30			$5,000 to $50,000
June 2	6:30 PM EST	F2	Greene	10.0	50			$500,000 to $5 million
June 2	6:35 PM EST	F1	Boone	0.5	30			$50,000 to $500,000
June 2	6:37 PM EST	F0	Boone	6.0	30			$5,000 to $50,000
June 2	6:43 PM EST	F1	Boone	7.0	30		5	$5,000 to $50,000
June 2	6:50 PM EST	F4	Lawrence	11.0	400	1	51	$500,000 to $5 million
June 2	7:17 PM CDT	F4	Gibson	13.0	200	6	60	$5 million to $50 million
June 2	7:20 PM EST	F0	Hamilton	0.2	20
June 2	7:30 PM EST	F2	Putnam	3.5	50	1	6	$50,000 to $500,000
June 2	7:40 PM EST	F2	Noble	3.5	220		9	$50,000 to $500,000
June 2	7:54 PM EST	F1	Orange	11.5	50			under $50
June 2	7:55 PM EST	F1	Jennings	10.0	40		2	$5,000 to $50,000
June 2	8:05 PM EST	F2	Jennings	18.0	60			$50,000 to $500,000
June 2	8:15 PM EST	F0	Decatur	0.1	10
June 2	8:17 PM EST	F0	Washington	3.5	30
June 2	8:20 PM EST	F4	Jackson	18.0	200		9	$500,000 to $5 million
June 2	9:03 PM EST	F2	Washington	4.5	150		2	$50,000 to $500,000
June 2	9:25 PM EST	F3	Washington	41.0	150			$50,000 to $500,000
June 2	9:30 PM EST	F2	Ripley	23.0	440		3	$50,000 to $500,000
June 2	9:30 PM EST	F2	Crawford	11.0	100		9	$50,000 to $500,000
June 2	10:57 PM EDT	F3	Floyd	12.0	300		7	$500,000 to $5 million
June 2	10:00 PM CDT	F4	Dearborn to OH	33.0	1,350		37	$5 million to $50 million
June 2	10:40 PM CDT	F3	Clark to KY	17.0	440		5	$50,000 to $500,000

June 3 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 3	4:07 PM EST	F0	Rush	0.1	10

June 6 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
June 6	12:52 PM CDT	F0	Vanderburgh	1.1	10		$50 to $500
June 6	1:25 PM CDT	F0	Spencer	6.0	50		$500 to $5,000
June 6	3:18 PM EDT	F1	Harrison	1.0	23	2	$5,000 to $50,000
June 6	3:37 PM EDT	F0	Floyd	0.5	23		$500 to $5,000

June 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 8	8:00 AM EST	F0	Wells	0.1	13			$50 to $500

June 17 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 17	9:27 PM EST	F0	Sullivan	0.1	10

August 20 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 20	12:54 PM EST	F0	Marion	0.5	30			$5,000 to $50,000
August 20	4:30 PM CDT	F0	Warrick	0.2	23

October 3 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 3	8:17 PM EST	F1	Boone	17.0	300			$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
June 2	5:53 PM CDT	F2	Edgar, IL to IN	17.5	150			$50,000 to $500,000
June 2	5:58 PM CDT	F2	Edgar, IL to IN	8.0	100		6	$50,000 to $500,000
June 2	6:20 PM CDT	F4	Hamilton, IL to IN	106.0	300	1	12	$500,000 to $5 million
June 2	6:45 PM CDT	F2	Lawrence, IL to IN	5.0	50		1	$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.