Tornadoes · United States · Indiana

2004 tornadoes in Indiana

47 tornadoes touched down in Indiana in 2004, 107 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 1 people and injured 49.

2003 2005 The whole country in 2004

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.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. 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.

  7. 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 2004

April 20 12 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 205:15 PM ESTF1Clinton3.850$250,000
April 205:40 PM ESTF1Boone2.0508$1.8 million
April 205:45 PM ESTF0Boone0.130$70,000
April 205:45 PM ESTF0Howard0.250$500,000
April 206:00 PM ESTF1Howard0.7751$3.0 million
April 206:24 PM ESTF0Miami1.050
April 207:08 PM ESTF1Wabash2.0150$70,000
April 207:24 PM ESTF0Madison0.250$180,000
April 207:25 PM ESTF0Huntington3.550$30,000
April 207:26 PM ESTF0Grant4.0100
April 207:31 PM ESTF0Grant0.250
April 207:40 PM ESTF0Huntington6.0150

May 9 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 97:05 PM CDTF0Jasper0.220

May 27 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 276:30 PM ESTF2Washington25.9150$2.5 million
May 278:55 PM EDTF1Floyd2.9200$500,000

May 30 24 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 301:05 PM ESTF1Owen8.475$300,000
May 301:33 PM ESTF0Fountain0.130
May 302:09 PM ESTF1Monroe7.075$250,000
May 302:25 PM ESTF3Crawford15.0400111$5.0 million
May 303:30 PM EDTF1Clark2.010$500,000
May 303:40 PM EDTF0Floyd3.810
May 303:10 PM ESTF1Washington10.630$120,000
May 304:55 PM ESTF0Clay0.125
May 306:00 PM ESTF0Morgan0.150$10,000
May 306:10 PM ESTF1Morgan5.075$20,000
May 306:30 PM ESTF0Hendricks0.850
May 306:32 PM ESTF0Hendricks4.175
May 307:00 PM ESTF2Marion20.010026$19 million
May 307:26 PM ESTF0Tippecanoe0.120
May 307:29 PM ESTF2Tippecanoe1.875$1.0 million
May 307:32 PM CDTF0Newton2.520
May 307:38 PM CDTF0Newton4.530
May 308:40 PM CDTF1Vanderburgh6.0200$1.2 million
May 308:40 PM CDTF2Warrick3.080$2.5 million
May 308:40 PM ESTF0Hamilton0.250$150,000
May 308:55 PM ESTF3Miami4.53601$6.0 million
May 308:55 PM ESTF0Madison2.050$70,000
May 309:15 PM ESTF0Monroe7.075$150,000
May 3010:05 PM ESTF0Jackson1.050$250,000

July 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 37:37 PM ESTF0Saint Joseph0.125

July 30 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 306:21 PM ESTF1Rush0.350$10,000
July 307:17 PM ESTF2Ripley2.01332$470,000

August 4 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 410:16 AM ESTF0Monroe0.110$1,000

November 24 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 245:25 PM ESTF1Rush2.150$100,000
November 246:02 PM ESTF0Wayne0.110$10,000
November 2410:10 PM ESTF0Decatur0.550$30,000

December 7 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 710:15 AM ESTF0Decatur1.575$10,000

Nearby

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