Lawrence County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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. Jun 7, 2008Flood$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding occurred along the East Fork White River in Lawrence County, including in the Rivervale, Bedford, and Williams areas due to heavy rain.

2. Jan 23, 1999Flood, Lawrence$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A combination of snowmelt and a heavy rain storm late on the 21st and 22nd caused widespread flood along the East Fork of the White River. Travel was very difficult in Jackson county as bridge construction had closed U.S. Hiughway 50, the only east-west road in the county that the East Fork does not flood. The East Fork flooded all local roads used as a detour for Highway 50. Columbus crested at 12.64 feet (flood stage is 9 feet), Seymour at 17.47 feet (flood stage is 12 feet), Bedford at 28.15 feet (flood stage is 20 feet), Williams at 10.9 feet (flood stage is 8 feet) and Shoals at 21.16 feet (flood stage is 20 feet).

3. Apr 3, 2025Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads closed due to flash flooding across southeastern Indiana. Exact details were never known, but over 30 water rescues were performed.

4. Mar 8, 2009Tornado$420,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This brief but powerful tornado had a steady track to the east-northeast, creating damage consistent of an EF3 strength tornado. A rating of EF3 corresponds with winds of 136 to 165 MPH. The maximum width of the tornado was approximately 1/8 mile. It completely destroyed the above ground portions of two homes, seriously damaged a trailer home, and created lesser damage to two other homes. It picked a full size school bus up, turned it around and onto its side, and moved it uphill onto the foundation of what had been an occupied home. The damage estimate is very rough.

5. Jan 6, 2005Flood, Lawrence$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   All of the snow cover from the historic pre-Christmas 2004 snow storm melted by New Year's Day 2005 as the dew point temperatures rose into the 50s. Lowland flooding occurred along the East Fork White River in Jackson County. The White River in southern Indiana rose to bankfull levels. This was the result of the melting snow cover.With warm air over Indiana, a storm system brought 2 to 4 inches of rain to much of central and southern Indiana from the 1st through the 3rd. Because of the saturated soil conditions, widespread local flooding occurred in central and southern Indiana. The major rivers in the state were flooding by the 4th. Another storm system quickly followed from the…

6. Dec 22, 2004Heavy Snow, Lawrence$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   17.5 inches of snow reported. Several garage roofs, in addition to those of some businesses and barns, collapsed under the weight of snow.

7. May 17, 1999Lightning$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous severe thunderstorms marched across central Indiana during the afternoon and evening. Hail was the main culprit during the afternoon hours, while damaging winds became more common during the evening as a squall line and embedded bow echo moved across. A 6 year old boy was killed near Linton in Greene county as a tree fell on him resulting in fatal head injuries. 2 other boys were injured as well as they took a glancing blow from the tree. Meanwhile, a woman was injured as a tree fell on her car in Faribanks, and anorther woman was injured as thunderstorm winds blew her car off the road in Putnamville. A tree fell on a house in Vincennes causing $75,000 damage. Finally,…

8. May 25, 2011Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   National Weather Service storm survey teams determined an EF-3 tornado struck near Bedford, damaging or destroying several buildings in a 6.8 mile long swath up to a quarter mile wide.

9. Nov 5, 2017Tornado$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This EF1 tornado produced damage north of Springville. Over a dozen structures had minor to moderate damage with the worst damage being two destroyed mobile homes and a garage being destroyed. Dozens of hardwood trees were either snapped off or uprooted.

10. Jun 29, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$125,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Numerous trees and powerlines downed by thunderstorm wind gusts in Bedford and across the county. Over 6000 power outages caused by the storm across the county.

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

111°F2 times, most recently Jul 28, 1930

All-time low

−29°FJan 19, 1994

Warmest night

84°FJun 5, 1899

Coldest day

−9°FJan 19, 1994

Wettest day

5.03 inOct 13, 1978

Snowiest day

12.0 inDec 23, 2004

Hottest year

1921mean 58.4°F

Coldest year

1978mean 50.2°F

Wettest year

195065.87 in

Driest year

198726.68 in

Snowiest season

58.1 in1950-51

Station Oolitic Purdue Ex Fm (USC00126580), 649 ft elevation, 4.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 27, 2026; 98.7% 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 USC00126580.
• 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.