Adams County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Adams County: 1.
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.

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

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.

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 county boundary (or inside the county).
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. Jul 5, 2003Flood, Adams$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The St. Marys river at Decatur reach a record crest of 26.94 feet. Flood stage is 17 feet. Emergency management reported nearly 200 homes damaged with some business and public facility damage.The St. Marys river in Fort Wayne went into major flood downstream from Decatur where the St. Marys had reached a record crest. Emergency management reported damage to 213 private structures and 8 to 10 businesses and numerous public facilities. The Wabash river in Bluffton reached the second highest crest on record at 18.3 feet. Flood stage is 10 feet. Emergency management reported an estimated damage amount for homes and business as well as damage to infrastructure.

2. Apr 14, 2006Lightning$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a barn north of Geneva shortly after 3 am EDT. The barn was a total loss from the resultant fire. In addition, four horses, two or three calves and several grown pigs were killed as well as several pieces of farm equipment being destroyed. Damage is estimated at around $250,000.

3. May 30, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$226,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Straight line wind damage was observed from near the intersection of State Route 101 and East 750 North southeast to just north of US 224 at North 600 East. At least five barns of varying size and age suffered damage with two destroyed. Two houses sustained minor roof and siding damage as well. Winds were estimated at around 70 mph. Damage is estimated by emergency management officials at around $226,000.

4. Jul 22, 1998Flash Flood$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   35 MOBILE HOMES IN A TRAILER PARK SUSTAINED MINOR TO MODERATE FLOODING. 200 PEOPLE WERE EVACUATED ALONG THE UPPER WABASH RIVER.

5. Aug 28, 2006Tornado$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado briefly touched down 2 miles east of Decatur, in the Briarwood subdivision, at the intersection of US 224 and CR 200 E. Part of a roof was ripped off, with a garage door being pulled out. A leaf was found sucked up under a piece of siding. The tornado crossed 200 E, damaging some trees, blowing a barn door in and flattening a small area of soy beans before lifting. The funnel moved across US 224 and touched down about a quarter mile from where it lifted. A parked car was flipped, totallin

6. Nov 10, 2002Tornado$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado touched down 2 miles northeast of Berne and moved just northeast of Salem before lifting.An NWS ground survey found F3 damage at times 200 yards wide northeast of Berne. Much of the damage was to extremely well built Amish barns and homes. A mobile home was also destroyed near Salem.

7. Mar 8, 2009Lightning$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Firefighters arrived at the residence on East County Road 100 South, east of Monroe to find the front of the house engulfed in flames. Several construction issues made it difficult to fight with the house being a total loss. The damage was estimated at around $100,000.

8. Aug 4, 1998Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   NUMEROUS COUNTY ROADS ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE COUNTY WERE INUNDATED ALONG WITH LOW LYING AGRICULTURAL FARMLANDS.

9. Apr 2, 2025Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   One of two likely simultaneous, parallel moving tornadoes impacted far eastern Adams County on the evening of April 2nd. Damage assessments from Adams County Emergency Management along with an NWS ground survey found evidence consistent with an EF-1 tornado with max estimated wind speeds of 100-105 mph that moved along E 300 near Monroe, IN. Reports from a local provided evidence of several properties that had sustained roof damage were already repaired early in the day. Otherwise, partial destruction and total destruction of well-built pole barns provided the maximum intensity of this particular tornado. The tornado dissipated before it reached the Mercer county line.

10. Jun 19, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    MANY TREES AND POWER LINES WERE DOWN ACROSS THE COUNTY. ONE TREE FLATTENED TWO CARS IN DECATUR WITH THE LIBRARY IN BERNE LOSING PART OF ITS ROOF.

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

107°F2 times, most recently Jul 22, 1934

All-time low

−24°FJan 20, 1985

Warmest night

81°FAug 6, 1918

Coldest day

−14°FJan 20, 1985

Wettest day

4.88 inSep 20, 1957

Snowiest day

13.0 in2 times, most recently Feb 3, 1982

Hottest year

1998mean 55.2°F

Coldest year

1917mean 47.6°F

Wettest year

199052.77 in

Driest year

198824.78 in

Snowiest season

80.2 in1981-82

Station Berne Wwtp (USC00120676), 839 ft elevation, 5.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1910 to October 16, 2026; 93.1% 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USC00120676.
• 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.