Sullivan County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Mar 31, 2023Tornado$18.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This was the rotating supercell's first tornado, having traversed through Illinois for nearly 28 miles, producing EF3 damage before entering Indiana. The tornado crossed the Wabash River, entering Sullivan County 1.8 miles south of Merom. Near Merom, the tornado severely damaged 3 homes and destroyed a modular home which was thrown at least 200 yards to destruction. Two occupants of this home were killed. Also, a large trailer and several cars were thrown tens of yards from their resting location. The violent winds sheared off trees approximately 20 to 30 feet above ground.||The tornado continued across southern portions of the City of Sullivan. Dozens of homes and structures were…

2. Jun 2, 2008Flood$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding occurred along the Wabash River in western Sullivan County, including near Riverton, due to heavy rainfall.

3. Jan 22, 1999Flood, Sullivan$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 -…

4. Jul 8, 2003Flood, Sullivan$500,000
   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…

5. Jan 3, 2005Flood, Sullivan$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…

6. Feb 19, 2026Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-0 tornado tracked 4.10 miles over southern Sullivan County, between the Paxton and Carlisle communities. The maximum path width was 300 yards with multiple outbuildings significantly or completely destroyed and damage to trees. The supercell originally spawned two weak tornadoes in Crawford County, Illinois, which lifted before crossing the Wabash River into southwestern Sullivan County near Indiana Route 58. The tornado appeared to frequently come in contact with the ground at a few locations east of Route 58 but never remained in contact with the ground for a long distance, yet demonstrated damage that reflects high-end EF0 winds around 80 mph. The tornado maintained EF-0…

7. May 6, 2002Flash Flood$150,000
8. Jun 21, 2026Thunderstorm Wind$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple trees and large branches snapped or uprooted by thunderstorm straight line wind gusts, focused on County Road 375 East, about a half mile south of concurrent EF1 tornado. Multiple vehicles and several houses were also damaged.

9. Jun 21, 2026Tornado$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-1 tornado with path length of 2.74 miles and path width of 425 yards tracked east-southeastward before ending at the western edge of Hymera. Damage was mostly limited to trees and a few structures northeast of Shelburn and northwest of Hymera. Peak winds were 100 mph.

10. Mar 11, 2006Flood$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Several bouts of heavy precipitation brought significant flooding to the Wabash River in central Indiana. Crests were as high as 5.2 feet above flood stage. Damage amounts are estimated.

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°F5 times, most recently Jul 7, 2012

All-time low

−17°FJan 31, 2004

Warmest night

81°F2 times, most recently Jun 14, 2022

Coldest day

2°FJan 1, 2018

Wettest day

5.71 inMay 12, 2002

Hottest year

2012mean 57.4°F

Coldest year

2014mean 50.7°F

Wettest year

201151.63 in

Driest year

201228.45 in

Station Terre Haute Hulman Regional Airport (USW00003868), 567 ft elevation, 23.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1961 to October 23, 2026; 94.8% 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 USW00003868.
• 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.