Noble County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Noble County: 4.
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. May 18, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds near kendallville downed large trees and power lines.Thunderstorms moving across north side of county damaged farmbuildings, a church, homes and utility towers.

2. Oct 24, 2001Tornado$1.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   On Wednesday 10/24/01 a surface low pressure system tracked rapidly northeast from the mid Mississippi Valley to northern Lake Michigan and deepened significantly. The accompanying cold front surged east from the Mississippi Valley during the afternoon to southeast Michigan and western Ohio in the evening. The deepening surface low was the result of a negatively tilted upper level trough approaching the Mississippi Valley. The air mass ahead of the cold front was quite unstable with lifted indices around -5C and surface dewpoints of 65-70F. Strong veering wind fields were over the area with 20-30kt S-SSE flow at the surface veering rapidly in the low levels to southwest at 45kts,…

3. Sep 24, 2024Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Eyewitness reports and an NWS Storm Survey confirmed a tornado started just east of Engle Lake, knocking down trees in a residential area. As it continued north, some of the strongest damage was sustained to a house, which had some of its roofing ripped off and a wall pushed in. Other houses and farm buildings sustained roof damage and more trees were knocked down or snapped as it continued on crossing highway 6. One large chicken building had its entire outer shell removed. It came to an end just before the Noble/Lagrange county line. Maximum sustained winds were estimated at around 105 mph.

4. Oct 24, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Noble county Fire/rescue reported trees and power lines down across much of the county. Emergency management reported damage to homes from fallen trees and roof damage.

5. Oct 24, 2001Tornado$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado touched down in extreme southeast Marshall county and moved northeast across Kosciusko county and into Noble county where the tornado dissipated near Rome City. Most significant F1 damage was north of Warsaw Indiana where 14 people were hurt at a factory when a wall collapsed. Most of the damage was F0-F1 along the 33 mile path. Average path width was 150 yards.

6. Mar 10, 2009Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two to three inches of rain fell over a 24 hour period, resulting in several creeks and rivers exceeding their banks. Flood waters affected portions of Kendallville, as well as much of the eastern two thirds of the county. A section of County Road 200 North near the Noble-DeKalb county line was washed away from the flood water. In addition, Deibele Creek which flows through portions of Kendallville undermined a portion of South State Street, resulting in a 10 foot deep hole forming. Several lakes had higher than normal water levels, with Bixler and Smalley Lakes going outside their banks and causing some flooding to residences and adjacent roads.

7. May 7, 2024Hail$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damage to cars, windows, and siding in Kendallville due to 3 inch hail stones.

8. Mar 30, 2025Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado embedded in a line of severe thunderstorms touched down near the corner of 400 S and 600 E in LaOtto, snapping several large trees. The tornado hit a large barn, pealing the roof off and causing a partial collapse of the trusses. The debris was scattered up to 1/4mi away in a 45deg arch to the east and north. A very old barn just to its north also collapsed. To the northeast, further tree damage occurred. The tornado reached maximum strength of EF-1 when it destroyed the northern half of a pole barn, leading to collapsed walls and damage to vehicles. The tornado continued through an open field before causing additional tree damage along 700 E, before dissipating.

9. Jul 11, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A local newspaper reported that three 80 to 100 foot tall pine trees were snapped, falling onto a house, garage and shed at a residence east of Kendallville. No one was injured with damage estimated at $75,000.

10. May 15, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Numerous trees, tree limbs, power lines and poles were blown down in and around Albion. One tree branch fell onto a moving van in the HIdden Diamonds Park in Albion. The driver was not injured.

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

104°F2 times, most recently Jul 7, 2012

All-time low

−21°FJan 16, 2009

Warmest night

78°FJul 19, 2019

Coldest day

−5°FJan 30, 2019

Wettest day

5.84 inJul 8, 1951

Snowiest day

9.4 inApr 7, 1957

Hottest year

2012mean 53.4°F

Coldest year

1997mean 47.3°F

Wettest year

195450.94 in

Driest year

201024.16 in

Station Goshen Municipal Airport (USW00014829), 824 ft elevation, 22.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1953 to October 26, 2026; 98.3% 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 USW00014829.
• 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.