NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Syracuse, 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 Syracuse, Indiana since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ike in 2008. Since 1950, 106 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 10 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 5
- Tornadoes
- 106
- EF3 or stronger
- 10
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
105 deaths in all
What the records show for Syracuse
None of the 5 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Syracuse; the strongest was Ike in 2008, a tropical storm with 58 mph winds when its centre passed 19 miles away. The record near Syracuse begins with an unnamed storm in 1902; the most recent system was Ike in 2008. Of the 5 systems, one has come since 2000. Syracuse has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 63% of the 356 Indiana cities on this site. The highest rating among the 106 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 4 times; the most recent, on April 3, 1974, came within 1 mile. The deadliest, an F4 on April 11, 1965, killed 36 people. Of the 106, 8 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 38 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 28. The most recent tornado was on April 2, 2025. Syracuse has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 53% of the 356 Indiana cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 79 times since 1965, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Syracuse has more hail reports within 10 miles than 66% of the 356 Indiana cities.
Compare Syracuse's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Syracuse
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | IkeSep 14 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1941 | Unnamed 1941 stormSep 25 | 42 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormSep 3 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 19 | 10 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 29 | 59 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 Syracuse: 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 Syracuse
By decade
- 2020s10
- 2010s21
- 2000s7(1 EF3+)
- 1990s15
- 1980s6
- 1970s12(2 EF3+)
- 1960s25(6 EF3+)
- 1950s10(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 11, 1965 | F4 | 19 mi | 37 mi | 36 / 321 |
| Apr 11, 1965 | F4 | 16 mi | 21.2 mi | 31 / 252 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F4 | 1 mi | 108.7 mi | 18 / 285 |
| Apr 11, 1965 | F4 | 15 mi | 21.6 mi | 5 / 41 |
| Apr 11, 1965 | F3 | 19 mi | 35.6 mi | 10 / 82 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F3 | 14 mi | 36.2 mi | 5 / 53 |
| Oct 18, 2007 | EF3 | 10 mi | 20.33 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 23, 1961 | F3 | 6 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 3 |
| May 6, 1961 | F3 | 18 mi | 33.4 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Aug 12, 1956 | F3 | 23 mi | 23.4 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Nov 17, 2013 | EF2 | 24 mi | 4.14 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 24, 2001 | F2 | 25 mi | 4.6 mi | 0 / 3 |
The strongest 12 of 106, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Syracuse
The Storm Prediction Center has 79 hail reports within 10 miles of Syracuse since 1965, made on 48 separate days. Of these, 39 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 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, 23.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Syracuse
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Northern Indiana WFO, IN, 4 miles southeast of Syracuse at 951 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 31°F and 18°F. June and August are the wettest at 4.2 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 2.3 inches; the year adds up to 39.9 inches over 82 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 9 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 126 nights a year. Snowfall averages 47.3 inches a year, most of it in February. That 39.9 inches is more than at 21 of the 115 Indiana stations used on this site (18%). Milford, 7 miles west, has its own station (Goshen Municipal Airport, IN): 34.7 inches a year, 5.2 less than here, and the same July average high, 83°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31 | 18 | 2.3 | 6 | 14.6 |
| Feb | 36 | 20 | 2.3 | 6 | 14.9 |
| Mar | 47 | 29 | 2.8 | 6 | 5.1 |
| Apr | 60 | 39 | 4.1 | 9 | 0.9 |
| May | 71 | 50 | 4.1 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 79 | 60 | 4.2 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 83 | 63 | 3.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 80 | 62 | 4.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 74 | 54 | 3.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 63 | 44 | 3.1 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 48 | 33 | 3.1 | 6 | 3.7 |
| Dec | 36 | 23 | 2.6 | 6 | 8.1 |
| Year | 59 | 41 | 39.9 | 82 | 47.3 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Northern Indiana WFO, IN (951 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 Syracuse
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 253 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Syracuse: 238 thunderstorm wind reports, 7 flash floods, 4 floods, 3 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 August 24, 2007. Of the 337 Indiana cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 120 have had fewer than Syracuse.
July 1, 2014: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Syracuse — 1 injured.
NWS: “Local media reported a tree fell onto South County Road (on the Elkhart/Kosciusko County line), west of County Road 43. A 61 year old male driver seen the tree and swerved away from the tree, but crashed into a ditch and other trees, suffering minor injuries.”
September 20, 2024: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Syracuse — $500,000 damage.
March 13, 2006: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Syracuse — $265,000 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 Syracuse's ZIP code 46567 have filed 26 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $139,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 19% 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, 51 have fewer than Syracuse.
Kosciusko County, which includes Syracuse, 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.