Indianapolis, IN Tornado History — 144 Tornadoes Since 1950
How many tornadoes has Indianapolis, IN had?
Indianapolis has had 144 tornadoes on record within 25 miles since 1950, including 15 violent (EF3+) tornadoes.
When was the most recent tornado near Indianapolis?
The most recent tornado within 25 miles of Indianapolis was an EF2 on April 2, 2025.
When is tornado season in Indianapolis?
June is historically the peak month for tornadoes near Indianapolis, with 29 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 Indianapolis
The last 20 years of confirmed tornadoes within 25 miles — 35 total, averaging 1.8 per year over this window.
Preliminary tornado reports near Indianapolis since December 29, 2025
These are 3 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Preliminary reports are revised, merged, and sometimes withdrawn — historically about 23% are consolidated downward once surveys complete.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 Indianapolis. 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 Indianapolis
4 fatalities have been recorded within 25 miles of Indianapolis since 1950, across 3 events. 327 injuries have been reported across all events. 1954 was the deadliest year on record.
The deadliest single event was a F3 on October 11, 1954, which caused 2 fatalities along a 4.7-mile track.
Notable Tornadoes Near Indianapolis
About Tornadoes in Indianapolis
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.
April 25, 1961 brought Indianapolis a stark demonstration of an Indiana spring: an F4 tornado ground along a 63.1-mile track that day, injuring 7 people. The chronology kept by the NOAA Storm Prediction Center braids that springtime intensity with cool-season surprises. An F3 killed 2 people on October 11, 1954, and during the Super Outbreak of April 3, 1974 another F3 killed 1 person and injured 25 near the city. An F3 arrived on November 22, 1992, an F4 injured 4 people on June 11, 1998, and on September 20, 2002 an F3 tracked 112 miles and injured 127. On April 1, 2023 an EF2 and an EF3 crossed the metro within hours; an EF1 followed on April 3, 2025.
The seasonal rhythm behind those dates is the region's defining trait. Each spring, warm and humid Gulf of Mexico air streams north over flat terrain just as the jet stream swings cold fronts and potent upper-level disturbances across Indiana, and their collision favors rotating storms from March into early summer. When the jet dips south again, a briefer autumn echo of that setup returns — which is how October, November, and September earned places in the archive beside April and May. With little rough ground to disrupt a mature supercell, storms here can hold together for long distances, as the 1973 and 2002 tracks showed.