NWS Northern Indiana Historical October Tornadoes

The tornado outbreak of October 24, 2001, was the most significant tornado outbreak ever to hit this area (see map below) in October.  It was our largest outbreak in over 27 years!

Map outline (black) indicates the Northern Indiana National Weather Service office's area of responsibility

...Across the CWA...
Ten tornadoes spun across the Northern Indiana National Weather Service office's area of responsibility (or, "County Warning Area", abbreviated "CWA"), ranging in strength from F0 to F3 on the Fujita Scale.  At the time, this was the largest tornado outbreak since April 3rd, 1974, when we encountered 16 tornadoes.  The Palm Sunday Outbreak on April 11th, 1965 gave us 10 tornadoes. This event was eclipsed by the October 26th, 2010 event when 13 tornadoes occurred (EF0-EF1) in the IWX CWA.

The death in LaPorte County was the first tornado-related death ever reported in the CWA in October.  The last tornado-related death in the CWA was in Steuben County on March 27, 1991 when an F3-strength tornado swept through.  The last one before that was back on March 12, 1976, as an F1 tornado briefly touched down in New Haven, Indiana.  

In January 2002, a man died from injuries sustained when the Crumstown tornado knocked a wall onto him on the west side of South Bend.

After this 2001 outbreak, the next largest October tornado outbreaks occurred on October 8, 1992 (four tornadoes, of F1 and F2 strength, in Grant, Huntington, and Allen Indiana counties), and, coincidentally, October 24, 1967 (four tornadoes, of F1 and F2 intensity, in Elkhart, Kosciusko, and St Joseph Indiana counties).

A tornado that passed from LaPorte County into St Joseph County (Indiana) had a (skipping) path length of 35 miles, a tornado that traveled from Marshall across Kosciusko into Noble County stayed on the ground for 39 miles, a twister that moved from Van Wert into Putnam counties traveled 32 miles, and a tornado that went from St Joseph County (Indiana) into Berrien, Cass, and St. Joseph counties (Michigan) had a path length of 47 miles (intermittent).  All of these tornadoes beat the old October tornado path length record of 14 miles set in Steuben County on October 1, 1986.

The tornado in Hillsdale County was the 500th tornado recorded in the present-day area of responsibility of the Northern Indiana office since 1834.

October tornadoes in the CWA (all times are EST):

...F3-strength twisters hit Saint Joseph County Indiana and Putnam County Ohio...
The tornado that produced F3 damage in St Joseph County was, at the time, the first F3-strength tornado ever recorded in the CWA in October.  Two hours and forty-five minutes later another F3 tornado struck, in Van Wert and Putnam counties (the tornado was not yet F3 strength in Van Wert County).  At the time, these were the strongest tornadoes observed in the CWA since February 18th, 1992, when an F4 tornado struck southern Van Wert County, Ohio.  The October 18th, 2007 Nappanee tornado was near EF4 intensity and the current record (intensity) October tornado.

...Across Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan...
The F3 tornadoes in St Joseph County Indiana and Putnam County Ohio were the strongest tornadoes seen in these three states since an F4 tornado hit Greenfield in Hancock County, Indiana, on June 11th, 1998.  Also that day, F3 tornadoes struck Greentown (Howard County, Indiana) and Cumberland (Marion County, Indiana).

Only four other October tornadoes have resulted in loss of life in these three states:
October 2, 1880:  An F3 tornado killed 2 people along its 15-mile-long path across the Michigan counties of Barry, Eaton, and Calhoun.
October 11, 1912:  One person was killed in Gratiot County, Michigan.
October 11, 1954:  An F3 tornado resulted in two fatalities in Johnson County, Indiana during its five miles on the ground.
October 1, 1977:  One life was lost in Harrison County, Indiana.

Because no F4 or F5 tornadoes have ever been recorded in these three states in October, the F3's in St Joseph County and Putnam County this year tied for the strongest October tornadoes on record.  The other F3 tornadoes were: