Owen County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 4, 2008Flood$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding occurred along the White River in Owen County, including near Spencer, due to heavy rain.

2. Jun 18, 2021Flash Flood$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous local and county roads closed due to high water. A couple were rescued by boat from the roof of their vehicle on State Road 43. Additional water rescues were done across Owen and Monroe counties. 1500 Fish Creek road was completely flooded with water rapidly flowing across the road. White Road along Raccoon Creek was destroyed by flood waters. Across the county roads have suffered severe damage, 23 culverts have been washed out and 2 bridges have significant damage. In all, over 30 Owen County roads are closed. A local emergency disaster declaration was created later in the day.

3. Jun 28, 1998Flash Flood$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Six to 12 inch rains in about four hours between Freedom and Spencer resulted in extreme flash flooding. Flood waters washed out 9 bridges, 8 culverts, one road, and several houses.

4. Sep 2, 2003Flood, Owen$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   8 to 10 inches of rain fell across central Indiana during the Labor Day weekend causing major flooding along parts of the White River. In fact, Indianapolis received the most rain ever for a calendar day (7.2 inches) breaking the old record set in 1895 (6.8 inches). According to a local newspaper account, nearly 3,000 residents across central Indiana applied for flood assistance and flood damage was estimated in excess of 20 million dollars. SEMA reports indicated more than 300 homes and nearly 60 businesses were flooded. Nearly 200 people were forced to evacuate their residences. The cities of Muncie and Anderson had near major flooding as the river crested at its highest level…

5. Jan 21, 1999Flood, Owen$1.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain of up to 5 inches on the 21st and 22nd combined with rapid snow melt upstream causing widespread flooding along the White River from Muncie to East Mount Carmel. Crests ranged from around a foot above flood stage along extreme eastern sections of the White to around 10 feet above flood stage across extreme western sections. Flooding along the river in Hamilton and northern Marion counties were the highest seen since December 1990 and January 1991. Many homes and streets were flooded, and a few rescues took place. The following are various crests along the river: Muncie - 9.62 feet (flood stage is 9 feet); Anderson - 12.8 feet (flood stage is 10 feet); Noblesville -…

6. Mar 31, 2023Tornado$1.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The rotating supercell thunderstorm tracked over the town of Spencer before spawning a second, violent EF3 tornado, that first tracked through extreme northeastern Owen County. The tornado touched down in the McCormick's Creek State Park Campground Loop B, where EF2-intensity winds produced extensive tree damage. About 400 yards east the tornado impacted many campers at Campground Loop A, where two campers were killed and two others were injured. About 1.25 miles to the east-northeast further EF2-intensity damage occurred at Concord Road where large sections of a home's roof were removed while cars where crushed, rolled and thrown; here along the circulation's southern side the…

7. May 30, 2004Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An F1 tornado skipped along for almost 8 and a half miles from near Freedom to Spencer. A few homes received significant damage about midway along the path of the tornado.

8. Jun 25, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees downed by thunderstorm wind gusts in Spencer and across the southern portions of the county.

9. Jun 7, 2008Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Spencer had multiple flood damaged homes. State Roads 43, 46, and 67 were all closed. United States 231 was also closed. Roads and bridges were washed out. Water was over railroad tracks near Gosport. Cars and golf carts were under water. Over 60 roads were washed out. Campers were stranded.

10. Mar 9, 2006Flood$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Several bouts of heavy precipitation brought flooding to the White River in central and southwest Indiana. Crests were as high as nearly 12 feet above flood stage. Damage amounts are estimated.

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

110°F2 times, most recently Jul 15, 1936

All-time low

−21°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

81°FSep 8, 1939

Coldest day

−10°FDec 25, 1983

Wettest day

6.56 inMar 25, 1913

Snowiest day

16.0 inJan 26, 1904

Hottest year

1954mean 57.8°F

Coldest year

2014mean 50.6°F

Wettest year

199365.65 in

Driest year

197628.57 in

Snowiest season

48.8 in1911-12

Station Bloomington Indiana University (USC00120784), 830 ft elevation, 17.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1895 to October 26, 2026; 97.8% 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 USC00120784.
• 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.