Benton County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Benton County: 0.
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.

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 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. Jun 14, 2010Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail as large as softballs produced catastrophic damage to crops from near Boswell east and southeast to the Warren County line south of Templeton. An estimated 5,000 acres of corn crop was destroyed. The hail also caused significant roof damage to many houses.

2. Jan 8, 2008Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Streams and creeks overflowed and flooded many roads throughout the county with hundreds of reports of high water and flooding. Two roads washed away due to flooding. Boswell measured 2.86 inches of rainfall.

3. Jun 14, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe winds of 60 mph to 75 mph developed just north of Boswell and continued east and southeast to the Warren County line south of Oxford. There were two areas of more intense wind damage found along Highway 352 between Boswell and Oxford. The first area of intense damage was near Chase where a large hardwood tree was snapped at the base with other trees and large tree limbs blown down in a few mile wide area around Chase. The most intense damage in this area was consistent with winds of 90 to 100 mph. The second area of intense damage was located farther east on Highway 352 just west of Oxford. A well built barn was partially destroyed in this location with debris from the barn…

4. Apr 19, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tool shed and a grain bin were blown down. Shingles were blown off of several houses.

5. Nov 17, 2013Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado heavily damaged an outbuilding with several wood projectiles from the building stuck into a nearby garage roof. Debris from the outbuilding was lofted at least three miles downstream. Another outbuilding was heavily damaged and multiple trees were blown down or snapped. Maximum winds were estimated to be 95 mph. The tornado continued into White County (NWS Northern Indiana).

6. Feb 4, 2008Dense Fog, Benton$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A multiple vehicle accident occurred at a railroad crossing on US 41 in Boswell. A semi truck struck a train. Two occupants in this truck were critically injured. A car and a pickup truck crashed into the semi truck. The driver of the truck was trapped in the wreckage when another semi truck struck the pick up and killed the driver who was trapped.

7. Feb 24, 2019High Wind, Benton$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Very strong and gusty winds developed during the early morning of February 24th and continued into the evening hours. Numerous tree limbs and power lines were blown down. A building collapsed due to the high winds in Fowler. Peak wind gusts included 63 mph at the Gary Airport (GYY); 59 mph at the Valparaiso Airport (VPZ); 58 mph near Dyer and near Lowell.

8. Jul 7, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   After a line of morning thunderstorms moved from northern Illinois into northwest Indiana, a second line of severe thunderstorms moved into northwest Indiana during the late evening hours of July 7th. Trees, tree limbs and power lines were blown down in Munster, Crown Point and Merrillville in Lake county. Trees and power lines were damaged in Goodland and Morocco in Newton county. A farm house was damaged and two barns were destroyed in Benton county.

9. Apr 18, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds caused power lines and a grain bin to be blown over. In addition, building damage was reported in town including the collapse of a retirement home roof.

10. Jul 8, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$10,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A bow echo moved east out of central Illinois into northwest Indiana during the afternoon of Sunday July 8th. A building was leveled in Enos in Newton county at 1516 CST and trees were blown down in Brook. Trees and powerlines were blown down across all of Benton county and one tree fell onto two cars in Fowler producing significant damage.

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

105°F2 times, most recently Jun 25, 1988

All-time low

−23°FJan 20, 1985

Warmest night

81°FJul 14, 1995

Coldest day

−10°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

6.05 inAug 30, 1981

Snowiest day

13.9 inDec 19, 1973

Hottest year

2021mean 55.0°F

Coldest year

2014mean 48.3°F

Wettest year

195251.79 in

Driest year

202223.22 in

Station Lafayette Purdue University Airport (USW00014835), 596 ft elevation, 21.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1944 to October 26, 2026; 99.1% 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 USW00014835.
• 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.