Union County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Union County: 0.
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.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 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.

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 14, 2008High Wind, Union$856,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds of 40 to 50 miles per hour were sustained for several hours. Gusts over 60 mph were common. Widespread damage occurred across the region, from trees being blown down on powerlines to significant structural damage.

2. Jun 16, 2003Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   State Route 101 was underwater near town, with several other roads in town closed by high water. The Union County Public Library and Edwards Memorial United Methodist Church both sustained basement flooding.

3. Jan 6, 1996Winter Storm, Union$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This massive storm system developed in the Gulf Coast and moved up the East Coast. The heaviest snow fell across Southeast Indiana where up to a foot of snow occurred near the Kentucky border. Farther north, around 6 inches fell in Wayne county. Strong winds caused significant blowing and drifting snow, especially to the north where the snow was lighter and more powdery.

4. May 23, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$65,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large trees were reported down with one of them down on a house due to damaging thunderstorm winds. Sheds were tipped over, a roof was peeled from a garage, a barn roof was peeled off with debris strewn for at least a half of a mile, a large grain silo was dented in, and a heavy wagon was rolled in excess of one hundred feet due to the winds.

5. Jun 15, 2003Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads were underwater in town. Several homes had water on the first floor, and the College Corner Union School sustained minor flood damage.

6. Jan 2, 1996Winter Storm, Union$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Low pressure strengthening in the Tennessee Valley passed southeast of Indiana. The heaviest snow fell across East Central Indiana, near Interstate 70. In this area there was up to 1 foot of snowfall, and blizzard conditions. Wind gusts up to 40 mph were common in this area with snow drifts between 3 and 5 feet across Wayne, Fayette, and Union counties. Roads oriented east to west were particularly hazardous as strong north winds produced large snow drifts shortly after the roads were plowed. Snow amounts dropped off rapidly to the south as rain and mixed precipitation preceded the snowfall. Parts of Northern Ripley county reported 8 inches of snow, while in the southern part of…

7. Jun 15, 2019Tornado$35,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado first touched down on the 1700 block of North U.S. Route 27, where a swirl was observed in a field just to the southwest of a well-constructed, 110 ft by 105 ft metal farm storage building. Several 4 X 4`s were snapped and the building was completely destroyed. Metal debris from this building was identified over 2 miles to the northeast. Wood debris from the barn was located from south to north in a semicircle approximately two hundred yards wide. In addition, there was a convergent path of wood and metal debris off to the northeast. Along this convergent path, a significant amount of debris was deposited in a tree line approximately a half mile to the…

8. Jul 2, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$35,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A business on South State Route 101 received significant roof damage.

9. Jul 19, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees downed across the county, one of which fell across a tent, injuring six campers. Also, two people were killed when a boat overturned in the storm on Brookville Lake.

10. Jul 4, 2000Flash Flood$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Heavy rainfall caused flooding, which washed a road out.

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

104°FJun 28, 2012

All-time low

−27°FJan 19, 1994

Warmest night

78°FJul 19, 2011

Coldest day

−9°FJan 20, 1985

Wettest day

6.84 inAug 12, 2026

Snowiest day

13.0 inDec 22, 2004

Hottest year

2012mean 55.3°F

Coldest year

1978mean 48.4°F

Wettest year

200655.35 in

Driest year

197630.05 in

Snowiest season

39.5 in1977-78

Station Richmond Wtr Wks (USC00127370), 1,005 ft elevation, 16.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1968 to October 26, 2026; 96.9% 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 USC00127370.
• 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.