Counties with the most tornadoes in Indiana
It's been a busy year for tornadoes in the U.S. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as many as 1,155 twisters have touched down across the country since the start of the year, above the average for this time of year.
A single day can drive up tornado counts. March 31, 2023, accounted for 163 tornadoes across the Midwest and South. Tornado activity usually peaks in the spring and early summer, and the pace of tornadoes usually slows around late summer. A smaller-scale second tornado season emerges in the fall, mostly in the Gulf Coast states.
Stacker used data from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information to find the counties in Indiana that have experienced the most tornadoes since 2000. While data is available going back to 1950, tornado tracking by the National Weather Service became more robust and accurate in the 1990s. Since counties can vary in size, they are ranked by the number of tornadoes per 100 square miles. Counties that experienced less than five tornadoes are not included.
The counties that encounter the most tornadoes aren't all in the infamous Tornado Alley. When adjusted for county area, the top 10 counties that experienced the most tornadoes since 2000 are from nine different states, all in the Southeast with the exception of Cleveland County, Oklahoma.
Research has shown that Tornado Alley is shifting due to warming temperatures fueled by climate change. In the future, the Southeast could become the region that receives the bulk of the country's tornadoes. It's a concerning trend as the South is more populated than the Great Plains and has a higher concentration of mobile homes than other parts of the country, making the storms potentially deadlier and costlier.
As of August 2023, 75 people have died from tornadoes this year, and over 60% of those deaths occurred in mobile homes.
The best way to stay protected during tornadoes is to have multiple ways of receiving storm updates including social media, radio, television, and sirens, and to immediately seek shelter in a basement or interior room without windows when a tornado watch escalates to a warning.
Read on to see which counties experience the most tornadoes in Indiana.
#50. Hamilton County
- #1,224 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#49. Henry County
- #1,217 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#48. LaPorte County
- #1,172 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#47. Harrison County
- #1,160 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#46. Dearborn County
- #1,088 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#45. Delaware County
- #1,026 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#44. Elkhart County
- #953 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#43. Rush County
- #929 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#42. Jefferson County
- #914 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 1
#41. Orange County
- #880 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#40. Steuben County
- #876 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#39. Hancock County
- #863 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 2
#38. Jasper County
- #844 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 1
#37. Daviess County
- #838 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#36. Huntington County
- #825 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#35. Montgomery County
- #804 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 3
#34. Decatur County
- #775 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#33. Cass County
- #769 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 1
#32. Shelby County
- #764 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#31. Benton County
- #746 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 3
#30. Gibson County
- #745 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#29. Ripley County
- #743 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#28. Morgan County
- #738 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 1
#27. Lawrence County
- #643 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#26. Miami County
- #642 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#25. Posey County
- #637 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#24. Carroll County
- #636 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 1
#23. Newton County
- #616 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#22. Perry County
- #557 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 1
#21. White County
- #513 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 2
#20. St. Joseph County
- #477 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#19. Boone County
- #472 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 2
#18. Warrick County
- #455 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#17. Johnson County
- #454 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 2
#16. Grant County
- #445 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 2
#15. Scott County
- #439 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#14. Wabash County
- #438 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#13. Kosciusko County
- #415 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#12. Clark County
- #405 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#11. Spencer County
- #389 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 2
#10. Marion County
- #388 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#9. Hendricks County
- #342 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#8. Lake County
- #304 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 1
#7. Washington County
- #283 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#6. Dubois County
- #276 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 2
#5. Pike County
- #200 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#4. Tippecanoe County
- #107 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#3. Howard County
- #98 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 3
#2. Vanderburgh County
- #97 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 2
#1. Floyd County
- #80 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 5