NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Milford, IN
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
5 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Milford, Indiana since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ike in 2008. Since 1950, 111 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 11 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 5
- Tornadoes
- 111
- EF3 or stronger
- 11
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
105 deaths in all
What the records show for Milford
None of the 5 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Milford; the strongest was Ike in 2008, a tropical storm with 58 mph winds when its centre passed 23 miles away. The record near Milford begins with an unnamed storm in 1902; the most recent system was Ike in 2008. Of the 5 systems, one has come since 2000. Milford has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 63% of the 356 Indiana cities on this site. The highest rating among the 111 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 4 times; the most recent, on April 3, 1974, came within 6 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on April 11, 1965, killed 36 people. Of the 111, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 38 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 33. The most recent tornado was on April 2, 2025. Milford has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 58% of the 356 Indiana cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 60 times since 1965, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 356 Indiana cities, 54% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Milford.
Compare Milford's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Milford
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | IkeSep 14 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1941 | Unnamed 1941 stormSep 25 | 36 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormSep 3 | 12 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 19 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 29 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Milford: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Milford
By decade
- 2020s8
- 2010s22
- 2000s8(1 EF3+)
- 1990s16
- 1980s6
- 1970s10(2 EF3+)
- 1960s27(7 EF3+)
- 1950s14(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 11, 1965 | F4 | 17 mi | 37 mi | 36 / 321 |
| Apr 11, 1965 | F4 | 12 mi | 21.2 mi | 31 / 252 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F4 | 6 mi | 108.7 mi | 18 / 285 |
| Apr 11, 1965 | F4 | 17 mi | 21.6 mi | 5 / 41 |
| Apr 11, 1965 | F3 | 16 mi | 35.6 mi | 10 / 82 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F3 | 21 mi | 36.2 mi | 5 / 53 |
| Oct 18, 2007 | EF3 | 5 mi | 20.33 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 30, 1962 | F3 | 24 mi | 36.5 mi | 0 / 49 |
| Jul 23, 1961 | F3 | 11 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 3 |
| May 6, 1961 | F3 | 25 mi | 33.4 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Aug 12, 1956 | F3 | 20 mi | 23.4 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Nov 17, 2013 | EF2 | 23 mi | 4.14 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 111, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Milford
The Storm Prediction Center has 60 hail reports within 10 miles of Milford since 1965, made on 40 separate days. Of these, 33 were 1 inch across or larger, and 4 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.75 inches (baseball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently June 2, 1980. The most recent report is from March 30, 2025. May has the most reports, 17.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Milford
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Goshen Municipal Airport, IN, 9 miles northeast of Milford at 827 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 62°F; January is the coolest, at 32°F and 18°F. May is the wettest at 4.2 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 1.6 inches; the year adds up to 34.7 inches over 71 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 13 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 130 nights a year. That 34.7 inches is more than at 1 of the 115 Indiana stations used on this site (1%). Syracuse, 7 miles east, has its own station (Northern Indiana WFO, IN): 39.9 inches a year, 5.2 more than here, and the same July average high, 83°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 32 | 18 | 1.7 | 4 |
| Feb | 35 | 20 | 1.6 | 5 |
| Mar | 47 | 29 | 2.0 | 6 |
| Apr | 60 | 38 | 3.4 | 7 |
| May | 71 | 50 | 4.2 | 8 |
| Jun | 80 | 60 | 3.5 | 7 |
| Jul | 83 | 62 | 3.7 | 6 |
| Aug | 81 | 60 | 4.0 | 6 |
| Sep | 75 | 53 | 2.9 | 5 |
| Oct | 62 | 43 | 3.0 | 7 |
| Nov | 48 | 33 | 2.8 | 5 |
| Dec | 37 | 24 | 1.9 | 5 |
| Year | 59 | 41 | 34.7 | 71 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Goshen Municipal Airport, IN (827 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Milford
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 214 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Milford: 202 thunderstorm wind reports, 5 flash floods, 4 floods, 2 lightning strikes and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $2.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on June 23, 2010. Of the 337 Indiana cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 77 have had fewer than Milford.
November 10, 1998: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Milford — 1 injured, $5,000 damage.
September 20, 2024: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Milford — $500,000 damage.
March 13, 2006: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Milford — $265,000 damage.
NWS: “A survey of damage at the Maple Leaf Farms Distribution center, southeast of Milford, concluded that straight line winds were the cause of damage to a cold storage building.”
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Kosciusko County, which includes Milford, has been named in 18 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1974, 10 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 severe storms, 4 snowstorms, 3 floods, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 3, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Kosciusko County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes and lightning; Relatively Low for hail, inland flooding and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $24.8 million a year, the 23rd highest of 92 Indiana counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $9.9 million (40%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 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).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets 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).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.