Parke County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Parke County: 0.
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. Jul 9, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Newspaper reported damage to more than 400 structures. 30-40% of the homes had moderate to severe damage.

2. Jan 22, 1999Flood, Parke$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rapid snow melt and heavy rain on the 21st and 22nd from 2 to 5 inches caused widespread flooding all along the Wabash River from Lafayette to East Mount Carmel. Flooding was the highest since April 1994 as crests were generally around 10 feet above flood stage. As flooding was nearing an end, more rain on the 31st caused the flooding to continue into February. The following are crests for various locations along the Wabash: Lafayette - 21.83 feet (flood stage is 11 feet); Covington - 26.18 feet (flood stage is 16 feet); Montezuma - 26.30 feet (flood stage is 14 feet); Clinton - 25.75 feet (flood stage is 18 feet); Terre Haute - 22.42 feet (flood stage is 14 feet); Riverton -…

3. Jul 6, 2003Flood, Parke$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous thunderstorm complexes marched across the northern half of the Indianapolis CWA starting on the evening of July 4th. The storms gradually started effecting southern areas of the CWA as well. The onlslaught of periodic heavy rain didn't end until the 11th. This caused major flooding major flooding all along the Wabash River. For the month of July, this type of flooding was likely unprecedented from Lafayette to Vincennes. For a more devasting flood later in the agricultural season, one must go back to August 1875.Location: FS in feet: Crest in feet: Date:Lafayette 11.0 25.05 7/10Covington 16.0 28.92 7/11Montezuma 14.0 30.35 7/12Clinton 18.0 29.50 7/13Terre Haute 14.0 25.09…

4. Jan 3, 2005Flood, Parke$500,000
   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…

5. Mar 15, 2025Tornado$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado began just west of Mecca with sporadic tree damage that continued north of West Pence Street. The tornado crossed Coxville Road before tracking mostly through rural woods and farmland west of McAdams Road. The worst damage occurred where the circulation tracked roughly parallel to McAdams Road towards County Road West 100 South where a small garage was completely destroyed and a 150 year old barn was mostly destroyed. The tornado centerline was just to the west of residences along McAdams Road. Several other residences nearby had tree and pole barn damage. The tornado then moved into farmland before dissipating just north of County Road West 100 South. Maximum winds…

6. Apr 2, 2025Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This second tornado to impact central Indiana began in a rural field just east of the Numa community. High end EF1 damage was caused to a home and two other buildings along West County Road 900 South where tree damage also occurred. Damage was scattered to the northeast, east, and southeast. The tornado continued northeast passing south of Coxville and then south of Catlin. Only tree damage occurred across these rural areas. The funnel was likely skipping for last few miles before lifting, which confined much of the damage to tree tops. Peak wind gusts were 105 mph.

7. Jun 29, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees downed by thunderstorm wind gusts on roads including including US 36 and IN 59. Over 4500 power outages caused by the storm.

8. Apr 2, 2026Thunderstorm Wind$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm straight line winds damaged a garage in the Bridgeton community and a small barn and large shed on Mansfield Road, with a couple trees onto houses, and Indiana Route 59 closed from downed trees and power poles.

9. Apr 2, 2026Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A very brief EF-0 tornado dropped from locally lower ceilings within a bookend vortex embedded in the QLCS near Cecil Harden Lake, 1.3 miles southeast of the Hollandsburg community. The bookend vortex crossed the lake, spawning the weak spin-up one-quarter mile south of the lake's southeastern shoreline; along its 900-foot track, the tornado then crossed residential roads East Mallard Drive and South Ebert Drive, before ending 400 feet south of the lake's shore.||Drone imagery showed clear convergence of downed trees in a grove between Meadows Lane and Mallard Drive; 30 to 40 additional trees were either uprooted or snapped along the path. Incident structural damage was limited to…

10. Oct 24, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Several supercell thunderstorms and a squall line moved across Central Indiana during the afternoon and early evening of October 24. There were numerous reports of large hail and downed trees as well as a brief tornado touchdown near Williams. Notable damage reports included semi's blown off the highway at several locations, a mobile destroyed at Wesport and several barns destroyed and roofs blown off homes at various locations. A very strong cold front and negatively tilted trough combined with very unstable conditions and strong wind shear allowed many of the storms to develop rotating wall clouds, however only 1 brief touchdown occurred.

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°FJul 14, 1936

All-time low

−25°FJan 19, 1994

Warmest night

87°FJul 26, 2012

Coldest day

−5°FFeb 9, 1899

Wettest day

8.74 inJun 28, 1957

Snowiest day

19.0 inMar 20, 1996

Hottest year

1998mean 56.9°F

Coldest year

1904mean 50.0°F

Wettest year

199063.73 in

Driest year

198027.17 in

Snowiest season

46.0 in1973-74

Station Rockville (USC00127522), 689 ft elevation, 0.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 25, 2026; 92.5% 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 USC00127522.
• 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.