Updated 2011 Preliminary Tornado Count

Tornado data through April has now been confirmed.  There have been some changes in number and intensity which I will detail in a post in the next day or so, but a quick rundown of tornadoes by date:


2/28:  6
4/19-4/20:  29
4/23:  1
4/26:  2
4/27:  1
5/22:  1
5/23:  2
5/25:  23
6/19:  1
6/22:  1
6/26:  2

Total:  69

Tornado Days By Month For 1950-2010

This post is an expansion of an earlier post regarding tornado days.  The image below shows the number of tornado days for every month of every year since 1950.



July 9, 1980 Rush County Tornado

Today marks the anniversary of one of the strongest July tornadoes ever to occur in Indiana.  It happened in Rush county on July 9, 1980 and produced F4 damage along its 13 mile path, killing 2 and injuring 25.  This tornado initially tracked southeastward before turning more southerly and even southwesterly for a time.

A Look At Tornadoes Which Have Crossed Out Of Indiana

Since 1950, Indiana has been struck by nearly 1300 tornadoes.  A very high number - but not all - have occurred entirely within the state boundaries.  The focus of this post is those tornadoes that started in Indiana and then moved into another state.

In the past 60 years, I found nearly two dozen tornadoes that started here before moving into a neighboring state.  I have mapped them and provided a list below.  The text only indicates the last Indiana county to be affected and the first county to be affected in the next state.  The usual caveats apply - namely, paths may be inexact and some tornadoes may not have actually been on the ground as they crossed the state line (since older tornadoes tended to be listed as one long path instead of several smaller ones).

Note that the November 22, 1992 Switzerland county tornado is also included on this map since it tracked from KY-IN-KY.  The November 6, 2005 Evansville area tornado is shown again as well since it tracked from KY-IN-KY-IN.

A Look At Tornadoes Which Have Crossed Into Indiana

Since 1950, Indiana has been struck by nearly 1300 tornadoes.  A very high number - but not all - have occurred entirely within the state boundaries.  The focus of this post is those tornadoes that started in a neighboring state before crossing into Indiana.

In the past 60 years, I found nearly two dozen tornadoes that started in Illinois, Kentucky or Michigan.  I have mapped them and provided a list below.  The text only indicates the last county to be affected in the preceding state and the first county in our state.  The usual caveats apply - namely, paths may be inexact and some tornadoes may not have actually been on the ground as they crossed the state line (since older tornadoes tended to be listed as one long path instead of several smaller ones).

There are a few interesting things in the data.  One, Knox county has been hit by a half dozen twisters passing through from Illinois.  Another noteworthy discovery is that June 2, 1990 is the only day that has had 4 tornadoes pass from Illinois into Indiana.  That day of course owns the largest tornado outbreak in state history.  Also, the tornado that struck the Evansville area on November 6, 2005 tracked from Kentucky into Indiana back into Kentucky and finally back into Indiana due to the shape of the border along the Ohio River.

Tomorrow I will post the tornadoes that started in Indiana before crossing into another state.

   

A History Of July 4 Tornadoes

July 4 is a day that we celebrate by lighting off fireworks, but nature has been known to occasionally provide its own fireworks with tornadoes and other forms of severe weather here.  I was curious to find out just how common Independence Day tornadoes have been over the years.  Although I browsed tornado records back to the 1800's, I could not find any July 4 tornadoes before 1957.  This seems rather improbable and is likely due to poor documentation in earlier years, but I can only post what I know.  I found a total of 7 tornadoes and they are listed and mapped below.  In one instance there was a discrepancy with location which I have noted.

July Tornadoes Per County Since 1950

I changed the scale from previous months since tornado frequency starts to decrease in July.