Steuben County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Steuben County: 3.
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. May 18, 1997Tornado$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Angola Airport had 21 aircraft and 3 hangars damaged. In surrounding area farm buildings, homes and business, utility towers also damaged.

2. Mar 10, 2009Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads were flooded with standing water ranging from six inches to a few feet in depth. At least 3 roads suffered some degree of wash out. These were County Road 950 East north of U.S. 20, County Road 20 North near County Road 100 East and a portion of West Fox Lake Road. Several lakes in the northern part of the county experienced high water levels, with some damage reported as well as sporadic evacuations. A NWS Cooperative observer in Angola reported 4.3 inches of rain over a 4 day period.

3. Jul 21, 1998Lightning$312,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   LIGHTNING INDUCED FIRES DESTROYED A BARN AND KENNEL AT 3580 S CR RD 800 E. ANOTHER LIGHTNING INDUCED FIRE DESTROYED ANOTHER BARN AND FARM TRACTORS AT 3285 N CR RD 650 E WHICH TOOK FIRE FIGHTERS 40 MINUTES TO GET UNDER CONTROL.

4. Jul 21, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   WIND DAMAGE TO 4-H BUILDING AND STRUCTURE HIT BY LIGHTNING. SEVERAL PEOPLE WERE INJURED WHEN LIGHTNING STRUCK THE 4-H BUILDING.

5. May 16, 2009Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Spotters and emergency management officials reported several areas in and around the Lake Pleasant area seeing flooding as the lake went out of its banks in many areas. This was the result of around four inches of rain falling across the area. Exact damage estimates were not available, but are estimated at $250,000.

6. Jul 26, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Local emergency management performed a storm survey of damage west of Fremont. A strip mall suffered significant damage to the roof and soffits as well as broken windows. Numerous trees were reported down in the area with one onto a car. Some trees were uprooted, as large as 20 inches in diameter. Trees and a light pole were blown down at a Holiday Inn Express. The damage appeared to be consistent with straight line winds of around 70 mph. Damage is estimated at around $100,000.

7. Mar 30, 2025Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An NWS damage survey confirmed a brief QLCS tornado embedded within a broad swath of damaging straight line winds in southwestern Steuben County, Indiana, on March 30th, 2025. The tornado likely originated in a field just north of Little Turkey Lake around 5:28 PM, before racing to the northeast. Several trees outbuildings were damaged to the northeast of Little Turkey Lake, most notably including a collapsed metal barn. Despite very limited ground evidence due to primarily open fields to the northeast, the tornado likely continued in a non continuous path over the next several minutes. A 50 to 100 yard swath of trees were snapped or uprooted on the southwest side of Long Lake,…

8. Apr 2, 2025Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damage survey from the National Weather Service along with Steuben County EMA found damage consistent with a tornado that touched down on the south side of Orland, IN. The tornado destroyed an old, small barn on the south side, before uprooting and snapping several trees and a communications pole in east Orland. The tornado damaged the roof of an apartment building, including ripping up the wood sheathing on the south end of the building. Non-conclusive, likely rear flank downdraft winds severely damaged a large barn at N 900 W and W State Rd 120 and a set of trees just off to the east. Across the street, a dozen or so trees were uprooted or snapped in a cemetery. Tree damage was…

9. Apr 11, 2011Lightning$55,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A local newspaper reported a residence in the 300 block of East Stocker Street, in Angola, was struck by lightning, causing an attic fire. The residents were home at the time of the lightning strike and escaped without injuries. An estimated $55,000 in damage was caused to the attic area.

10. Sep 22, 2005Hail$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    30 to 35 homes were reported to have siding damage and a few vehicles also suffered some damage. Hail up to golf ball size was 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

106°F2 times, most recently Jul 14, 1936

All-time low

−27°FJan 4, 1981

Warmest night

79°F2 times, most recently Jul 29, 1931

Coldest day

−15°FJan 31, 2019

Wettest day

5.00 inJul 9, 1951

Snowiest day

18.0 inFeb 28, 1900

Hottest year

1921mean 52.6°F

Coldest year

1978mean 44.4°F

Wettest year

195052.48 in

Driest year

197124.07 in

Snowiest season

82.6 in2013-14

Station Angola (USC00120200), 1,020 ft elevation, 1.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1898 to October 25, 2026; 98.4% 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 USC00120200.
• 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.