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Porter County, Indiana severe weather history spans 432 recorded events between 1958 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 56.0% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,127 nationally and #22 in Indiana.
432
Recorded events
8
Direct deaths
10
Direct injuries
$49.8M
Property damage
The record
What the Porter County, Indiana severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Porter County, Indiana severe weather history averages 6.4 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2020s, with 129 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 46 events fall before 1990 and 386 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Porter County, Indiana record is rip current, responsible for 3 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $26.9M in reported property damage. In total, 9 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Porter County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 242 | 2 | $5.0M | 85 | 1960–2026 |
| Hail | 87 | 0 | $500K | 2 | 1960–2026 |
| Flood | 28 | 0 | $3.8M | 0 | 2007–2025 |
| Tornado | 26 | 1 | $26.9M | F3 | 1958–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 25 | 2 | $13.3M | 0 | 1996–2021 |
| Lightning | 16 | 0 | $247K | 0 | 1996–2012 |
| Heavy Rain | 4 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2009–2025 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2010–2025 |
| Rip Current | 2 | 3 | $0 | 0 | 1999–2005 |
Decade by decade
Porter County, Indiana severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
25 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 18 touched down inside it and 7 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976-03-12 | EF3 | 0 | 7 | 12.6 mi | Crossed in |
| 1967-10-24 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1965-04-11 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 33.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1962-04-30 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2009-08-19 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1977-06-30 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 6.8 mi | Crossed in |
| 1976-03-12 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 5.6 mi | Crossed in |
| 1962-07-20 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 14.9 mi | Crossed in |
| 1980-05-30 | EF1 | 1 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-07-15 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 29.1 mi | Crossed in |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Porter County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 14, 2008 | Flash Flood | OGDEN DUNES | 2 | 0 | $2.0M |
| Jul 26, 2005 | Rip Current | BEVERLY SHRS | 2 | 0 | $0 |
| Mar 30, 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | (VPZ) PORTER COUNTY REGIONAL AIRPORT | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| May 15, 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | SOUTH HAVEN | 1 | 0 | $15K |
| Aug 29, 1999 | Rip Current | BEVERLY SHRS | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| May 30, 1980 | Tornado | 1 | 0 | $0 | |
| Apr 19, 1975 | Tornado | 0 | 4 | $25K | |
| Jul 1, 2011 | Lightning | VALPARAISO | 0 | 2 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Flash flooding or significant flooding was reported across most of Porter County, including street closures due to flooding, basement flooding and creek, stream and river flooding. Two men were sucked into a culvert while trying to rescue a boy in flood waters in Chesterton. The boy survived but both men drowned. A sinkhole developed and swallowed the back of a fire truck in Valparaiso.
A 16 year old female and a man in his mid-20s were swimming in Lake Michigan, 80 to 100 yards offshore of Beverly Shores. At 4 pm CST, Michigan City had a north-northeast wind with gusts to 30 mph. These strong winds likely produced waves of 4 feet or higher as well as rip currents. Both people were found about an hour and half later, but had drowned.
A 34 year old male semi truck driver was killed when severe thunderstorm winds blew the truck over and onto the driver as he was standing outside of the cab. The incident occurred at Pratt Industries in Valparaiso. The ASOS at the nearby Porter County Airport recorded an 81 mph gust around the time of the incident.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Moderate
FEMA NRI risk rating
174,818
Population (ACS)
$282K
Median home value
14
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 24, 2026 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM |
| Apr 3, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| May 4, 2018 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Sep 23, 2008 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Mar 12, 2007 | Snowstorm | SNOW | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Porter County, Indiana?
432 events are on record between 1958 and 2026, causing 8 direct deaths and $49.8M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Porter County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 242 recorded events — 56.0% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Porter County?
25 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 18 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Porter County?
14 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Porter County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Porter County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Porter County as relatively moderate risk, placing it in the 81 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Porter County, Indiana severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Pike County 333
- Posey County 439
- Perry County 229
- Pulaski County 152
- Parke County 266
- Putnam County 349
Cite this page
“Porter County, Indiana.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/indiana/porter-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.