NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Shelbyville, 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
2 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Shelbyville, Indiana since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1915. Since 1950, 125 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 16 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 2
- Tornadoes
- 125
- EF3 or stronger
- 16
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
11 deaths in all
What the records show for Shelbyville
None of the 2 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Shelbyville; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1915, a tropical storm with 40 mph winds when its centre passed 6 miles away. The record near Shelbyville begins with an unnamed storm in 1902; the most recent system was an unnamed storm in 1915. Of the 356 Indiana cities on this site, 88% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Shelbyville. The highest rating among the 125 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 6 times; the most recent, on June 11, 1998, came within 19 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on April 3, 1974, killed 4 people. Of the 125, 11 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 46 have come since 2000. May and June have had the most tornadoes, 24 each. The most recent tornado was on March 19, 2025. Shelbyville has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 76% of the 356 Indiana cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 45 times since 1979, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Of the 356 Indiana cities, 74% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Shelbyville.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Shelbyville
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 21 | 6 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 29 | 60 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 Shelbyville: 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 Shelbyville
By decade
- 2020s16(1 EF3+)
- 2010s13
- 2000s17(3 EF3+)
- 1990s19(3 EF3+)
- 1980s14(2 EF3+)
- 1970s20(4 EF3+)
- 1960s11(1 EF3+)
- 1950s15(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 3, 1974 | F4 | 23 mi | 35.6 mi | 4 / 17 |
| Jul 9, 1980 | F4 | 17 mi | 11 mi | 2 / 25 |
| Jun 11, 1998 | F4 | 19 mi | 13.2 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F4 | 17 mi | 18.9 mi | 0 / 17 |
| May 14, 1972 | F4 | 23 mi | 30 mi | 0 / 20 |
| Apr 25, 1961 | F4 | 4 mi | 63.1 mi | 0 / 7 |
| Oct 11, 1954 | F3 | 15 mi | 4.7 mi | 2 / 0 |
| Jun 3, 2008 | EF3 | 7 mi | 9.68 mi | 1 / 8 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F3 | 7 mi | 20.7 mi | 1 / 25 |
| Mar 31, 2023 | EF3 | 13 mi | 5.48 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 15, 2005 | F3 | 12 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Sep 20, 2002 | F3 | 23 mi | 112 mi | 0 / 127 |
The strongest 12 of 125, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Shelbyville
The Storm Prediction Center has 45 hail reports within 10 miles of Shelbyville since 1979, made on 33 separate days. Of these, 25 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on June 2, 1980. The most recent report is from May 16, 2025. April has the most reports, 15.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Shelbyville
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Shelbyville Sewage Plt, IN, 1 mile west of Shelbyville at 752 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 36°F and 20°F. June is the wettest at 4.9 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.7 inches; the year adds up to 44.1 inches over 81 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 18 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 115 nights a year. Snowfall averages 14.6 inches a year, most of it in January. That 44.1 inches is more than at 62 of the 115 Indiana stations used on this site (54%). Fairland, 9 miles northwest, has its own station (Shelbyville Municipal Airport, IN): 43.2 inches a year, 0.9 less than here, and a July average high of 86°F against 85°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 36 | 20 | 3.3 | 7 | 5.3 |
| Feb | 40 | 22 | 2.7 | 5 | 3.8 |
| Mar | 51 | 31 | 3.3 | 7 | 1.8 |
| Apr | 64 | 41 | 4.7 | 8 | 0.0 |
| May | 74 | 53 | 4.7 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 82 | 61 | 4.9 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 85 | 64 | 4.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 84 | 62 | 3.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 79 | 55 | 3.2 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 66 | 43 | 3.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 52 | 33 | 3.4 | 6 | 0.1 |
| Dec | 41 | 25 | 3.4 | 7 | 3.6 |
| Year | 63 | 43 | 44.1 | 81 | 14.6 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Shelbyville Sewage Plt, IN (752 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 Shelbyville
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 153 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Shelbyville: 126 thunderstorm wind reports, 13 flash floods, 11 floods and 3 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $1.7 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 85 mph, on April 19, 2011. Of the 337 Indiana cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 194 have had fewer than Shelbyville.
July 29, 2021: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Shelbyville — 1 injured, $18,000 damage.
June 4, 2008: flood in Shelbyville — $200,000 damage.
NWS: “Flooding occurred along the Big Blue River in Shelby County, including near Shelbyville, due to heavy rain.”
June 7, 2008: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Shelbyville — $170,000 damage.
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
Flood insurance policyholders in Shelbyville's ZIP code 46176 have filed 121 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1980, and were paid $1.6 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1990: 10 claims (8% of all) and $52,000. The year with the most claims was 2005, with 21. 21% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 155 Indiana cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 122 have fewer than Shelbyville.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1990 | 10 | $52,000 |
Shelby County, which includes Shelbyville, has been named in 15 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1974, 9 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 severe storms, 3 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 2 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 3, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Shelby County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes; Relatively Low for hail, inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $16.3 million a year, the 36th highest of 92 Indiana counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $8.4 million (51%), 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.
Cities near Shelbyville
- Fairland, IN9 mi
- Saint Paul, IN11 mi
- Morristown, IN11 mi
- Fountaintown, IN11 mi
- Franklin, IN15 mi
- New Palestine, IN16 mi
- Hope, IN16 mi
- Edinburgh, IN16 mi
- Whiteland, IN17 mi
- Rushville, IN19 mi
- Greenfield, IN19 mi
- Greenwood, IN20 mi
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