Central Indiana Tornado Statistics

Indiana Tornado Climatology

Specific tornado information for Central Indiana follows below. Records for all of Indiana can be found farther down the page.

Central Indiana Tornadoes, 1950-2023*

Click on county of interest for specific information

Bartholomew	Boone	Brown	Carroll	Clay
Clinton	Daviess	Decatur	Delaware	Fountain
Greene	Hamilton	Hancock	Hendricks	Henry
Howard	Jackson	Jennings	Johnson	Knox
Lawrence	Madison	Marion	Martin	Monroe
Montgomery	Morgan	Owen	Parke	Putnam
Randolph	Rush	Shelby	Sullivan	Tippecanoe
Tipton	Vermillion	Vigo	Warren

* Data through 12/31/2023 is currently available

Times listed on the individual pages are in Eastern Standard Time on a 24 hour clock, e.g. 0400 = 4:00 AM and 2000 = 8:00 PM
Locations listed are approximate.

Indiana State Tornado Records (1950-2023)

Indiana averages 22 tornadoes per year

For an interactive dashboard on Indiana tornadoes, please visit this link

Most Tornadoes

In a Single Year: 72 in 2011
In a Single Month: 44 in June 1990
In a Single Day: 37 on June 2, 1990
List of Top Indiana Tornado Outbreaks

Most Intense

Three F5 tornadoes occurred within the April 3, 1974 Super Outbreak, all in far southern Indiana...

Crossed 6 Indiana counties from Perry to Scott, killing 6 and injuring 86 others
Crossed from Kentucky (where it killed 31) into Harrison County (no casualties)
Crossed from Ohio County Indiana (no casualties) into Kentucky and Ohio, injuring 210

Longest Tracks

Tornadoes Only in Indiana:

112 miles on September 20, 2002. The F3 tornado crossed 9 counties, injuring 127
109 miles on April 3, 1974. The F4 "Monticello Tornado" crossed 8 counties, killing 18 and injuring 285

Multi-State Tornadoes that Included Indiana

219 miles (Missouri-Illinois-Indiana) on March 18, 1925. The F5 "Tri-State Tornado" crossed 3 counties in Indiana
120 miles (Illinois-Indiana) on April 9, 1953. The F3 tornado killed 2 and injured 12 crossed 5 counties in Indiana

Widest Vortex

Four tornadoes on record had a maximum path width of 1.0 mile...

June 21, 1951: The F3 tornado struck Pulaski and Fulton Counties, had a path length of 5.4 miles, and injured 4
July 9, 1951: The F2 tornado struck Howard County, had a path length of 1.0 mile, and caused no injuries
April 3, 1974: The F4 tornado struck Fulton and Kosciusko Counties, had a path length of 24.1 miles, and caused 6 deaths and 138 injuries
October 24, 2001: The F2 tornado struck LaPorte County, had a path length of 33 miles, and caused 1 death

Fatality Statistics

Total Since 1950: 272 fatalities.

Deadliest Outbreaks

April 11, 1965 (Palm Sunday Outbreak)...137 fatalities (52% of all since 1950). Seven killer tornadoes, and 4 of those had 25 or more fatalities:

36 dead in an F4 tornado in St Joseph, Elkhart, and LaGrange Counties
31 dead in an F4 tornado in Elkhart County
28 dead in an F4 tornado in Montgomery, Boone, and Hamilton Counties
25 dead in an F4 tornado in Clinton, Howard, and Grant Counties ("Kokomo Tornado")

April 3, 1974 Super Outbreak...47 fatalities (18% of all since 1950). Eight killer tornadoes, and 2 of those had 11 or more fatalities:

18 dead in an F4 tornado ("Monticello Tornado") that crossed 8 counties
11 dead in an F4 tornado that crossed Scott, Jefferson, and Ripley Counties

From a Single Tornado

36 killed in an F4 tornado in St Joseph, Elkhart, and LaGrange Counties on April 11, 1965

Injury Statistics

Total Since 1950: 4,305

From a Single Tornado: 835 injuries from the April 11, 1965 F4 "Kokomo" tornado that struck Clinton, Howard, and Grant Counties

Adding all Casualties from the two deadliest outbreaks (April 11, 1965 and April 3, 1974) account for roughly two thirds of the totals since 1950: 70% of all fatalities, 61% of all injuries

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