Putnam County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by NASA (1).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 1, 2003Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Record rainfall event occurred across central Indiana starting in the evening of August 31 and continuing through the morning of September 2. The heaviest rain occurred along an axis from Vigo to Clay to Putnam to Hendricks to Marion to Hamilton to Madison, Delaware and Randolph counties. Many spots near the axis received 8 to 10 inches over the 30 hour period. This resulted in widespread flash flooding and flooding along small creeks. There were numerous evacuations from homes and rescues from vehicles. Many schools were closed. Many neighborhoods that never saw flooding before were flooded. There were also hundreds of flooded basements. The National Guard was activated to help…

2. Jun 7, 2008Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several roads, bridges, and culverts were washed out due to excessive rainfall that caused flash flooding over the county. Mill Creek flooded areas around and south of Cloverdale. There was high water surrounding homes, filling basements, and trapping people inside their cars. Interstate 70 collapsed near the Cloverdale exit. Greencastle had flood related damage while in Russellville and Fillmore vehicles were stuck in high water.

3. Jun 16, 2026Tornado$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-1 tornado with a total path length of 9.37 miles began at this location in Putnam County before crossing into western Morgan County where it dissipated. The maximum path width was 100 yards. The tornado moved mostly over rural areas causing significant tree damage, with a few structures also damaged. Significant damage occurred to a mobile home and two other residences were impacted. One barn was destroyed on one of these properties. The tornado may have skipped a few times along the path. Estimated max wind speeds were 105 mph.

4. Jun 29, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extensive tree and powerline damage reported in Greencastle and across the county. Over 11000 power outages reported due to the storm.

5. Feb 14, 2016Winter Weather, Putnam$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   WXIN reported that the Indiana State Police worked 50 property damaging crashes, 3 crashes that resulted in injury, and 8 slide-offs due to snowfall in the area. Some of Interstate 70 had to shut down.

6. Aug 23, 2002Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado briefly touched down at the Putnam County Fairground and destroyed 1 horse stable and damaged one other building.

7. May 7, 2002Flash Flood$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms moved across the southern half of central Indiana during the early morning hours of May 7. These storms produced heavy rain which lead to extensive flash flooding. Numerous roads were flooded and closed, including some state roads. In Clinton in Clay county, 10 to 12 blocks were evacuated due to flooding. In Morgan county, a school bus became stuck in high water and the occupants were evacuated.

8. Sep 27, 2024High Wind, Putnam$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Non-thunderstorm winds downed a tree that destroyed a double-wide trailer 4 miles south of Cloverdale, pinning down and bruising one person inside the home. At least 2750 homes were without power during the event.

9. Jul 8, 2003Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An F1 tornado near Bainbridge destroyed 3 metal barns and did minor to moderate damage to 2 homes.

10. Mar 15, 2026High Wind, Putnam$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Non-thunderstorm wind gusts downed multiple trees, power poles, and powerlines across the county with numerous power outages reported.

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°F2 times, most recently Jul 7, 2012

All-time low

−27°FJan 19, 1994

Warmest night

81°FJul 7, 2012

Coldest day

−11°FJan 20, 1985

Wettest day

7.20 inSep 1, 2003

Snowiest day

11.4 inJan 5, 2014

Hottest year

2012mean 56.9°F

Coldest year

2014mean 50.1°F

Wettest year

199656.81 in

Driest year

195427.93 in

Snowiest season

58.2 in1981-82

Station Indianapolis (USW00093819), 887 ft elevation, 29.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% 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 USW00093819.
• 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.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• 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.