St. Joseph County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within St. Joseph 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. Aug 15, 2016Flash Flood$5.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency management officials reported widespread flooding and flash flooding across portions of the county from North Liberty into the South Bend/Mishawaka area to the state line. The most extensive, and in some cases life threatening, flash flooding occurred in the city of South Bend where over a dozen roads were closed due to a foot or more of water flowing over the roads. Several homes were impacted by flood waters with basement/foundation damage to at least 2 homes that required evacuation/rescue of the homeowners. Many others were displaced across the city and outlying county areas. The flood waters lifted a local media outlets car off the road and onto a rail along the…

2. Oct 24, 2001Tornado$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado touched down just southwest of Crumstown in St Joseph county Indiana and moved northeast into Berrien county Michigan (see Storm Data for Michigan, Extreme Southwest for more information on the end portion of this tornado). In St Joseph county Indiana the most significant damage was across Crumstown, where F3 damage with a path width up to 3/4 mile occurred. The tornado then moved to near the Michiana Regional Airport and across the Indiana Turnpike causing F0-F1 damage. Two men were injured northwest of South Bend. One man later died from his injuries. The tornado moved into Berrien county Michigan 6 miles NNW of South Bend.

3. Oct 24, 2001Tornado$1.3 million
4. Feb 20, 2018Flood$1.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extensive flooding occurred across the county as all area waterways exceeded their limited, reaching record levels in some spots. Residents had to be evacuated along many of the rivers with numerous homes and businesses suffering varying degrees of damage. In addition, numerous roads were closed due to high water for several days including portions of US 331, 20 and 6 as well as several state routes. Washouts were reported in some areas. Damage estimates totaled at least 1.1 million dollars.

5. Jun 15, 2008Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous reports of hail as large as baseballs were received in the city of South Bend. Numerous vehicles suffered mainly dents and scratches but some broken windows were reported. Damage estimates across the area are at least one million dollars in property damage and at least $250,000 in crop damage.

6. Jun 22, 2008Lightning$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck the corner of one of the apartment buildings in the Indiana Lakes Apartment complex. At least four apartments, all on the third floor, were destroyed. Eight apartments on the second floor suffered extensive water damage and many on the first floor have both smoke and water damage. Luckily, a firewall prevented the fire from spreading to adjacent areas. Damage is estimated at one million dollars for structure and contents. No injuries were reported.

7. Oct 2, 2006Lightning$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A fire, started by lightning, destroyed a Methodist church in Mishawaka. Several hours passed before the fire could be brought under control. Those inside the church at the time of the strike were able to escape without injury. Damage is estimated at $750,000.

8. Sep 13, 2008Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Law enforcement and emergency management officials reported several roads closed due to high water over them from rainfall amounts of 6 to locally as high as 11 inches, which was in the Grainger area. No injuries were reported. Exact damage figures were not available.

9. Jul 21, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   SEVERAL REPORTS OF HIGH WINDS AND WIND DAMAGE. ONE WOMAN WAS SERIOUSLY INJURED WHEN A LARGE TREE FELL ON HER CAR.

10. Jul 21, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$350,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A path of damage was reported starting in the Walkerton area, continuing through North Liberty and Lakeville before ending near the Elkhart county line. A tree fell onto a unoccupied truck in Walkerton with trees and power lines down in this city as well. The most concentrated damage extended from North Liberty to Lakeville where winds were estimated to 75 mph. Numerous large maple trees and power lines were blown down across this area. Several homes, vehicles and other buildings in these areas suffered damage as a result of falling trees. A few of the homes were nearly destroyed.

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 24, 1934

All-time low

−22°F2 times, most recently Jan 20, 1943

Warmest night

84°FJul 23, 1914

Coldest day

−8°FFeb 9, 1899

Wettest day

7.69 inAug 15, 2016

Snowiest day

26.0 inJan 8, 2011

Hottest year

2024mean 53.9°F

Coldest year

1904mean 45.8°F

Wettest year

199055.61 in

Driest year

191722.17 in

Snowiest season

172.0 in1977-78

Station S Bend Airport (USW00014848), 772 ft elevation, 5.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 26, 2026; 99.9% 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 USW00014848.
• 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.