Fort Wayne, IN Tornado History — 96 Tornadoes Since 1950
How many tornadoes has Fort Wayne, IN had?
Fort Wayne has had 96 tornadoes on record within 25 miles since 1950, including 2 violent (EF3+) tornadoes.
When was the most recent tornado near Fort Wayne?
The most recent tornado within 25 miles of Fort Wayne was an EF1 on March 30, 2025.
When is tornado season in Fort Wayne?
May is historically the peak month for tornadoes near Fort Wayne, with 20 on record. Spring through early summer (April–June) generally sees the highest activity across most of the central and southern United States.
At a Glance
Recent Tornado Activity Near Fort Wayne
The last 20 years of confirmed tornadoes within 25 miles — 20 total, averaging 1.0 per year over this window.
Preliminary tornado reports near Fort Wayne since December 29, 2025
These are 2 preliminary reports, not confirmed tornadoes. They have not yet been through an NWS damage survey, and are not counted in the confirmed totals above.
Preliminary reports are revised, merged, and sometimes withdrawn — historically about 23% are consolidated downward once surveys complete. Ratings are omitted until a survey assigns one.
Confirmed records above are complete through December 29, 2025. NOAA publishes the confirmed archive annually, so tornadoes after that date appear here first and move into the totals above once finalized.
Within 25 miles of Fort Wayne. Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center preliminary storm reports, updated daily.
Tornadoes by Decade
Tornadoes by Enhanced Fujita Rating
F0–F5 ratings (pre-2007) are grouped with their EF equivalents. The Enhanced Fujita scale replaced the original Fujita scale in February 2007.
Tornadoes by Month
Casualties on Record Near Fort Wayne
2 fatalities have been recorded within 25 miles of Fort Wayne since 1950, across 2 events. 47 injuries have been reported across all events. 1976 was the deadliest year on record.
The deadliest single event was a F3 on May 16, 1968, which caused 1 fatality along a 50.3-mile track.
Notable Tornadoes Near Fort Wayne
About Tornadoes in Fort Wayne
This overview was written August 10, 2026. The tornado counts and notable-event figures elsewhere on this page reflect the latest data and may differ from this summary.
Allen County occupies the flat glacial till plain of northeastern Indiana, where the Saint Joseph and Saint Marys rivers meet to form the Maumee at Fort Wayne. Nothing in that gentle landscape blunts the seasonal collisions that breed tornadoes: humid Gulf of Mexico air streams north across the Ohio Valley in spring and early summer, running into cooler, drier air behind fronts steered by a jet stream that often crosses the lower Great Lakes. When those ingredients stack beneath vigorous upper-level winds, rotating thunderstorms can organize quickly across the open farmland around the city.
The benchmark event in the NOAA Storm Prediction Center's database came on May 16, 1968, when an F3 tracked roughly 50 miles through the Fort Wayne area, taking a life and leaving 15 people injured. During the outbreak of April 4, 1974, an F2 plowed a path of about 14 miles nearby. Decades later, on August 24, 2016, an EF3 some 500 yards wide cut a five-mile swath close to the city.
Recent decades have favored compact but potent storms. An EF2 struck on June 23, 2016, weeks before that summer's EF3; another EF2 traveled nearly eight miles on April 1, 2023; and an EF1 touched down on March 30, 2025. The event list elsewhere on this page traces the sequence back to the 1950s, decade by decade.