Tornadoes · United States · Indiana

2008 tornadoes in Indiana

30 tornadoes touched down in Indiana in 2008, 32 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 4 people and injured 33.

2007 2009 The whole country in 2008

The rating scale

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

  1. EF065 to 85 mph

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

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

  3. EF2111 to 135 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. EF3136 to 165 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

  6. EF5over 200 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 2008

January 29 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 295:07 PM CSTEF2Posey7.01002$250,000
January 297:20 PM ESTEF1Marion0.150$100,000
January 297:40 PM ESTEF1Washington10.7200$60,000
January 297:58 PM ESTEF1Clark0.21001$50,000
January 298:10 PM ESTEF1Scott1.8100$70,000

February 5 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 59:15 PM ESTEF1Greene2.050$1.3 million

May 11 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 118:25 AM EDTEF0Madison0.110$15,000

May 27 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 273:12 PM EDTEF0Daviess0.110

May 30 6 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 306:15 PM EDTEF1Wabash0.250$100,000
May 306:22 PM EDTEF0Wabash0.125$40,000
May 307:30 PM EDTEF0Carroll0.130
May 3010:27 PM EDTEF2Marion7.115018$29 million
May 3010:35 PM EDTEF1Hancock4.5200$500,000
May 3010:57 PM CDTEF0Adams to OH0.325$61,000

June 3 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 311:10 AM EDTEF1Greene27.11001$170,000
June 32:30 PM EDTEF0Morgan0.450$20,000
June 39:04 PM EDTEF3Shelby9.715018$1.2 million
June 39:24 PM EDTEF2Brown10.61504$23 million
June 39:50 PM EDTEF1Decatur4.175$70,000

June 4 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 47:13 AM EDTEF0Greene0.150
June 46:00 PM EDTEF0Dearborn0.750$30,000

June 27 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 277:05 PM EDTEF0Warren0.320$1,000
June 278:06 PM EDTEF0Harrison0.315$1,000
June 278:12 PM EDTEF0Owen4.11752$70,000
June 279:07 PM EDTEF0Harrison0.430
June 279:08 PM EDTEF0Harrison0.850$25,000

July 8 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 81:10 PM EDTEF0Whitley0.2300$20,000

August 4 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 48:27 PM CDTEF2Lake2.730$1.0 million
August 412:20 AM EDTEF0Benton0.110$5,000

September 4 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 44:49 PM CDTEF1Jasper0.220$30,000

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.