Hancock County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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 29, 2009Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two cars were reported to be stuck in high water at county road 600 north and county road 400 west. Flood damage to vehicles estimated.

2. Sep 20, 2002Tornado$2.0 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.

3. Jun 11, 1998Tornado$1.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado initially touched down on Indianapolis' far east side in Cumberland destroying six buildings and damaging nearly eighty. The tornado continued east-northeast into Hancock County before dissipating just east of Maxwell at 640 PM EST. In Hancock County, the tornado destroyed approxiamtely five buildings and damaged nearly 40 others. The supercell storm that generated this tornado also produced three other tornadoes in east central Indiana that evening. These tornadoes will be described below.

4. May 30, 2008Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind speeds with this tornado were around 100 mph based on damage indicators. Multiple structures had damage including farm buildings and houses.

5. Jun 11, 1998Tornado$400,000
6. Sep 4, 2000Lightning$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning strikes set four condominiums ablaze in Greenfield. The units were completely destroyed with damages estimated at 300K. Lightning also set a poll barn on fire in Bedford. A race car and another vehicle were gutted with damages estimated at 80K.

7. May 30, 2008Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado began in Marion County at 2127 near 42nd Street and Post Road and tracked southeastward for 3.1 miles before exiting Marion County. The tornado exited Marion County at 2132 and entered Hancock County on North County Line Road, 500 meters south of East 38th Street. The tornado continued in Hancock County for 4.0 miles until lifting at 2136, 500 feet south of West 200 North on North 400 West. The tornado was rated EF-2 while in Marion County with a width of 150 yards and winds of 125 mph. The tornado was rated EF-1 while in Hancock County with a width of 100 yards and winds near 100 mph. Numerous structures were damaged in Marion County with the hardest hit area being an…

8. Feb 27, 2023Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This first tornado touched down approximately 3 miles south-southeast of McCordsville, damaging the roof of a warehouse. The tornado remained on the ground approximately 3.34 miles striking a farm and destroying a farm outbuilding, damaging a large and functioning historic barn (sliding it slightly off its foundation) and snapping numerous trees. The tornado then continued to the northeast, possibly skipping for the last 1.9 miles of its path, crossing Indiana State Route 234 and North Fortville Pike where it blew over a semi truck before ending. This tornado was on the ground for approximately 6 minutes with estimated peak winds of 110 mph.

9. Jul 19, 2002Flash Flood$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   4.23 inches of rain fell across Greenfield. Many streets were closed and traffic rerouted by Greenfield Police. A roof also collapsed on a building due to the heavy rainfall.

10. Feb 28, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$147,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Downburst straight-line wind damage in the form of downed trees, limbs and power lines occurred on State Road 67 in Fortville at Motel Road, Industrial Drive and just north and west of the downtown area. Roofs were also blown off homes and a semi-truck was blown over as well. Two garages were reported to have collapsed also.

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

109°F2 times, most recently Jul 14, 1936

All-time low

−29°FJan 20, 1985

Warmest night

82°FAug 4, 1930

Coldest day

−11°F2 times, most recently Jan 19, 1994

Wettest day

5.20 inAug 10, 1968

Snowiest day

13.5 inFeb 21, 1912

Hottest year

1921mean 56.8°F

Coldest year

1904mean 47.8°F

Wettest year

201860.97 in

Driest year

193421.46 in

Snowiest season

46.6 in1950-51

Station Greenfield (USC00123527), 869 ft elevation, 4.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1903 to October 27, 2026; 97.6% 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 USC00123527.
• 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.