Decatur County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Decatur County: 2.
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.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 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.

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.

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. Apr 20, 1996Tornado$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Weak tornado destroyed several buildings and damaged several more. Numerous trees were uprooted also. This storm was one of two to produce significant damage in the county.

2. May 25, 2011Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A high end EF-1 tornado, with maximum winds of 100-105 mph impacted the southwest side of Greensburg, with the most extensive damage from the Decatur County Airport northeast through Greensburg City Park, the Greensburg Country Club, and the Country Club Estates neighborhood where about 30 homes sustained damage. Damage began at the airport where roofs were peeled and several garage doors were blown in on the hangar buildings. A Twin Otter plane tethered near the hangars was spun around and cartwheeled about 50 feet to the north. Numerous large oak trees in excess of 4 feet in diameter were completely uprooted through the park and the golf course. A park shelter building was…

3. Feb 5, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$260,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A microburst caused damage to numerous structures in Decatur County including a church steeple and roof, two mobile homes, three pick up trucks, trees, power lines, a school bus, two semi trailers, a barn, two businesses, a fence, and a few houses.

4. May 25, 2011Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado damage was discovered in the Rolling Meadows neighborhood about one half mile south of the Interstate 74 and US 421 interchange and just north of County Road 100 North. This was determined to be from a second tornado, rated EF-1 with maximum winds at 90 mph. Approximately 15-20 homes throughout the neighborhood sustained roof or siding damage, with garage doors buckling and blowing inwards on several of these homes. Much of the debris was strewn into an adjacent farm field. Just across US 421 off to the northeast, a small piece of plywood was found impaled into the stucco on a bank building. The path length was 0.5 miles with a maximum width 400 yards.

5. Feb 14, 2016Winter Weather, Decatur$240,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Indiana State Police were called out to five different crashes involving 30 to 40 vehicles due to snowfall in the area. No life threatening injuries were reported.

6. Aug 25, 2018Hail$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The emergency manager reported many instances of hail damage to homes, cars, a school bus, and roofs, including both the elementary and high schools.

7. Apr 14, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Straight line winds damaged two trailers and an old store.

8. Apr 14, 2006Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A weak tornado briefly touched down near Burney in Decatur County. Among the damage was a destroyed garage, and several outbuildings. No injuries were reported.

9. Jul 11, 2000Lightning$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning damaged a business in Greensburg.

10. Apr 20, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$100,000

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

108°FJul 22, 1901

All-time low

−31°FJan 17, 1994

Warmest night

77°F3 times, most recently Jul 8, 2012

Coldest day

−12°FJan 17, 1994

Wettest day

5.90 inFeb 18, 2022

Snowiest day

17.0 inDec 22, 2004

Hottest year

1944mean 55.4°F

Coldest year

1904mean 48.3°F

Wettest year

201159.38 in

Driest year

193422.56 in

Snowiest season

45.6 in1909-10

Station Rushville (USC00127646), 948 ft elevation, 19.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1901 to October 27, 2026; 94.6% 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 USC00127646.
• 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.