Bloomington

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Monroe County, the county that contains Bloomington.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in Monroe County, the county that contains Bloomington.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Monroe County, the county that contains Bloomington.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 18, 2021Flash Flood$25.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A 31 year old male was swept away in a vehicle in floodwaters from clear creek near the intersection of College Avenue and Dodds Street. Another person of unknown age and sex was also in the vehicle at the time but was able to escape with only minor injuries. Numerous videos and pictures showed standing water along portions of the downtown including Walnut Street. Many businesses in the area remained shut down for a week to clean up issues related to the flood waters. Water rushed into a nursing home which required the building to evacuate.

2. Feb 19, 2026Tornado$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-2 tornado tracked 3.73 miles through west-central Monroe County, across the Bloomington Airport up to the Interstate Route 69 interchange with Indiana Route 48. The maximum path width was 440 yards with the tornado causing significant damage to neighborhoods, apartments, businesses, and portions of the airport. Extensive tree damage also occurred.||The tornado first developed in wooded areas west of the airport before rapidly intensifying as it moved into a small neighborhood just west of the airport. This area experienced the event's most intense winds, extensive tree damage along with multiple points of structural damage to homes. As the tornado progressed eastward, it…

3. Sep 20, 2002Tornado$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   One of Indiana's longest tracking tornados formed along a squall line on the morning of September 20. The tornado touched down near Ellettsville in Monroe county and then remained on the ground for 112 miles before lifting in Blackford county. The tornado produced F3 damage at its strongest points. Nearly 100 single family homes were destroyed, along with several mobile homes. Some apartments were also destroyed. Many businesses and hundreds of homes received damage. Several counties were declared disaster areas.

4. Jun 25, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread significant tree damage across the city of Bloomington with numerous reports of property damage due to fallen trees and tree limbs.

5. Jun 19, 2021Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous water rescues were performed during the early morning hours of June 19th. Many county and state roads were under water as a result of locations receiving more than 7 inches of rain.

6. Jun 17, 2026Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-3 tornado with path length of at 18.49 miles and maximum width of 880 yards moved through much of Monroe county after exiting Owen county.. The peak winds were 140 mph. Drone footage showed a widespread path through mostly forested area with several areas of widespread debarking of the trees. The tornado impacted and destroyed several homes along Bowman and Mount Pleasant Road with the most intense damage along Buskirk road. The tornado crossed Interstate 69 and continued further into forested areas of Morgan Monroe forest.

7. Jan 21, 1999Flood, Monroe$1.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain of up to 5 inches on the 21st and 22nd combined with rapid snow melt upstream causing widespread flooding along the White River from Muncie to East Mount Carmel. Crests ranged from around a foot above flood stage along extreme eastern sections of the White to around 10 feet above flood stage across extreme western sections. Flooding along the river in Hamilton and northern Marion counties were the highest seen since December 1990 and January 1991. Many homes and streets were flooded, and a few rescues took place. The following are various crests along the river: Muncie - 9.62 feet (flood stage is 9 feet); Anderson - 12.8 feet (flood stage is 10 feet); Noblesville -…

8. Dec 22, 2004Heavy Snow, Monroe$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Massive damage occurred when the roof of a marina and some docks collapsed.

9. May 16, 2025Tornado$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The episode's third tornado was the last of three tornadoes spawned from a rotating supercell that crossed southern central Indiana. This long-track circulation crossed southern Monroe County and Brown County before tracking into west-central Bartholomew County for its final 3 miles. The tornado produced mainly EF1 damage, although EF2 intensity occurred occasionally in Monroe County, especially in the Clear Creek area, as well as an approximate 4-mile length in Brown County near and just north of the Stone Head area.||The tornado touched down about a quarter-mile southwest of the intersection of West Elwren Road and West Elwren Lane and tracked eastward, producing minor…

10. Mar 31, 2023Tornado$1.1 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Continuation from Owen County of the rotating supercell thunderstorm's second EF3. The tornado reached peak intensity while crossing the Owen-Monroe County line, where the strongest winds in Monroe County were 152 mph along West Wolf Mountain Road. Here, 0.2 to 0.3 miles east of North County Line Road, the tornado destroyed both a mobile home and single story homes with little anchoring on cinder blocks, among many damaged and debarked trees. Back closer to North County Line Road, and slightly farther north of the center of the tornado's path, winds had separated a trailer home from its attached structure and garage, allowing the home to roll and flatten. Farther east along West…

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

110°F2 times, most recently Jul 15, 1936

All-time low

−21°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

81°FSep 8, 1939

Coldest day

−10°FDec 25, 1983

Wettest day

6.56 inMar 25, 1913

Snowiest day

16.0 inJan 26, 1904

Hottest year

1954mean 57.8°F

Coldest year

2014mean 50.6°F

Wettest year

199365.65 in

Driest year

197628.57 in

Snowiest season

48.8 in1911-12

Station Bloomington Indiana University (USC00120784), 830 ft elevation, 0.7 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1895 to October 26, 2026; 97.8% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Monroe County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USC00120784.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.