Top 10 Tornadoes Since 1950

#1 - April 3, 1974 Monticello Tornado


This tornado had it all - considerable deaths, injuries, severe damage and very long track. The path length was originally thought to be 121 miles but after reanalysis it was chopped down to 109 miles. Although this tornado didn't hit any major cities, it caused about $100 million damage in 1974 dollars (over $400 million adjusted to present day!) and heavily damaged/destroyed a good chunk of Monticello. This tornado was rated F4 and killed 19 people, injured more than 400, and was up to a half mile wide.

For more on the Monticello tornado, visit this link

Top 10 Tornadoes Since 1950

#2 - April 11, 1965 Russiaville to Greentown Tornado


Beginning in Clinton county, this tornado heavily damaged the town of Russiaville before proceeding northeast. It went on to cause significant damage on the south side of Kokomo and then Greentown. In all, 25 were killed and over 800 were injured by this F4 which was on the ground for nearly 50 miles.

Top 10 Tornadoes Since 1950

#3 - April 11, 1965 South Bend to Shipshewana Tornado


This was the second tornado to hit Dunlap, Indiana on that fateful day. It killed 36 people, injured about 300 and was on the ground for 37 miles. There has been some debate about whether this was actually an F5, but the official rating is F4.

Top 10 Tornadoes Since 1950

#4 - April 3, 1974 Depauw Tornado


Part of the Super Outbreak, this F5 twister was on the ground for 68 miles, killing 6 and injuring over 75.  This is one of a very small number of confirmed or suspected F5 tornadoes in state history. 

Top 10 Tornadoes Since 1950

#5 - November 6, 2005 Evansville Tornado


This is an ultimate example a tornado hitting a bad place at a bad time - namely, a mobile home park in the wee hours of the morning. This tornado killed 24, injured over 230, and was on the ground for 41 miles. It was deemed a high end F3 and was about a quarter mile wide. This was the deadliest tornado to hit the state in decades.

Top 10 Tornadoes Since 1950

#6 - April 11, 1965 Crawfordsville to Arcadia Tornado


This very impressive tornado killed 28, injured over 120, and was on the ground for 45 miles. It was reportedly up to a mile wide.

Top 10 Tornadoes Since 1950

#7 - September 20, 2002 Ellettsville to Hartford City Tornado



This is probably one of the lesser known tornadoes but that doesn't mean it wasn't impressive. It was on the ground for 2 hours and 21 minutes and traveled 112 miles and charged through the south and east side of Indianapolis.  Fortunately, there were no fatalities but over 100 people were injured. This tornado was rated F3 and caused over $100 million in damage.

Top 10 Tornadoes Since 1950

#8 - April 3, 1974 Henryville/Madison Tornado


11 were killed and approximately 200 injured by this F4 tornado which was on the ground for 35 miles and was over a half mile wide.

Top 10 Tornadoes Since 1950

#9 - April 11, 1965 Dunlap Tornado (1st)


This F4 twister killed 14 and injured about 200. It was on the ground for over 20 miles and did serious damage to Dunlap, including the Midway Trailer Park. This was the infamous "double funnel" that was captured on camera by Paul Huffman of the Elkhart Truth.

Top 10 Tornadoes Since 1950

This is the opening post of a series I will do over the next ten days which will rank the ten worst tornadoes in the state since 1950.  This list is highly subjective and is based on a combination of deaths, injuries, strength, path length and width. 


#10 - June 2, 1990 Petersburg Tornado


This 13 mile long tornado was part of our largest outbreak on record. It was rated F4 and did heavy damage to the town of Petersburg, killing several and injuring 60.

August 4, 2008 Tornadoes

Three years ago on this date, a powerful bow echo/derecho plowed across northern Indiana.  In addition to widespread damaging straight line winds, there were 2 tornadoes in the northwest part of the state.  The first tornado, an EF2, began in the Lake county town of Griffith and passed into Gary before dissipating.  The second tornado, a brief EF0, occurred in Benton county near the town of Chase.  Fortunately, nobody was injured. 

August Tornadoes Per County Since 1950