Porter County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Tsunamis

1. Places where NOAA's Global Historical Tsunami Database records a tsunami's water arriving, with the greatest height it reached above sea level at the time. Only tsunamis NOAA rates probable or definite are counted. Heights from eyewitness accounts and tide gauges are mixed, and older events are less completely recorded.

NOAA NCEI/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Aug 22, 2014Flash Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant flooding occurred in South Haven requiring at least 18 boat evacuations in the predawn hours and at least three homes were declared uninhabitable. Basements across town were flooded and destroyed. Neighborhoods had around four feet of water which the fire department was trying to pump out. The Duck Creek subdivision in particular was hard hit. The entry into the subdivision was impassable. One resident was treated for a minor injury. The intersections of County Road 700 North and Indiana 149 along with U.S. 6 and Indiana 149 were closed due to flooding. Portions of County Road 250 West between Indiana 130 and U.S. 30 were washed away.

2. Feb 20, 2018Flood$3.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant flooding occurred in Porter County which caused flood damage to approximately 190 homes. Flooding closed several roads and damaged public infrastructure, including roads, culverts, bridges, levees and stream and ditch banks. Storm total rainfall amounts included 4.50 inches in Portage and 4.20 inches in Valparaiso.

3. Aug 15, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread wind damage from near Lakes of The Four Seasons along the Lake/Porter County line, through central Porter County, ending southeast of Kouts, near the Porter LaPorte County line. Numerous trees were uprooted and blown over. At least 50 houses across the county were damaged. The most intense damage was near Kouts where large hardwood trees were uprooted or snapped. Twenty three large metal truss towers for high tension power lines were blown down along a four mile path east of Kouts. Winds with the most intense damage were estimated at 100 to 120 mph.

4. Sep 14, 2008Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding or significant flooding was reported across most of Porter County, including street closures due to flooding, basement flooding and creek, stream and river flooding. Two men were sucked into a culvert while trying to rescue a boy in flood waters in Chesterton. The boy survived but both men drowned. A sinkhole developed and swallowed the back of a fire truck in Valparaiso.

5. Aug 19, 2009Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down in southern Chesterton east of 11th Street and southwest of South Park Drive. The tornado quickly intensified as it moved to the northeast and caused the partial collapse of a gymnasium roof at the Chesterton Junior High School. A wind gust to 105 mph was measured by an anemometer near the school. This damage along with numerous trees that were either uprooted or sheared off was caused by tornado winds reaching 110 mph. The tornado was rated EF1 at this point with a path width of 40 yards. The tornado continued to track to the northeast across the New York Central railroad tracks toward Grant Avenue where the roof of a warehouse had been peeled off and…

6. Aug 23, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Powerful severe thunderstorms developed over Lake Michigan during the afternoon of August 23rd. These thunderstorms moved south into northwest Indiana and produced wind speeds as high as 106 mph, which was measured at a coastal observation site in Michigan City. Trees, tree limbs and power lines were blown down across much of northeast and eastern Porter County. In Pines, a tree fell onto a trailer, which was destroyed. Numerous houses suffered damage to roofs and siding from falling trees. Several cars were damaged by falling trees and tree limbs. In Valparaiso, trees were blown down and windows were blown out of buildings on Washington Street, Randall Street, and Fairlane Drive.

7. Sep 13, 2008Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Basement and street flooding was reported in Valparaiso. Water was waist high in some locations with some roads impassible. Street flooding was also reported in South Haven. Route 2 near the Lake County Line was flooded and closed.

8. Aug 23, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Powerful severe thunderstorms developed over Lake Michigan during the afternoon of August 23rd. These thunderstorms moved south into northwest Indiana and produced wind speeds as high as 106 mph, which was measured at a coastal observation site in Michigan City. Trees, tree limbs and power lines were blown down across much of northeast and eastern Porter County. In Pines, a tree fell onto a trailer, which was destroyed. Numerous houses suffered damage to roofs and siding from falling trees. Several cars were damaged by falling trees and tree limbs. In Valparaiso, trees were blown down and windows were blown out of buildings on Washington Street, Randall Street, and Fairlane Drive.

9. Aug 23, 2006Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Golf ball size hail was reported at Route 20 and Bean Road.

10. Aug 22, 2014Flash Flood$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Street and basement flooding was reported over portions of Valparaiso.

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

105°FJun 26, 1988

All-time low

−26°FJan 5, 1999

Warmest night

77°F2 times, most recently Jul 26, 2005

Coldest day

−13°F2 times, most recently Jan 7, 2014

Wettest day

5.83 inJul 2, 1983

Snowiest day

15.0 inFeb 4, 2009

Hottest year

2024mean 52.5°F

Coldest year

2014mean 45.7°F

Wettest year

199054.69 in

Driest year

199922.83 in

Snowiest season

81.6 in1977-78

Station Wanatah 2 Wnw (USC00129222), 735 ft elevation, 10.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1961 to October 27, 2026; 95.0% 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 USC00129222.
• 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.
• Tsunamis NOAA NCEI/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database.
• 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.