How Likely Is a Tornado in Howard County, IN?
Howard County's tornado history, by the numbers
Howard County has recorded 27 tornado touches in NOAA's 76-year database, a rate of roughly one every 2.8 years - our Elevated band. Put another way: Howard County sees more tornado activity than 64% of US counties. Indiana has 92 counties in this dataset; Howard County ranks 24 of them by frequency.
Beyond the frequency band: violent history
1 tornado touching Howard County reached violent (EF4-5) strength since 1950. That single fact carries more weight for the shelter decision than the county's overall frequency band.
The dollar figure Howard County's rating leads to
Indiana's Indiana Department of Homeland Security's Residential Safe Room Program is the number that matters for a Howard County homeowner: 75% of an approved shelter, capped at $5,000, cutting the typical $2,890-$13,280 national range to about $722.5-$8,280 net.
What a direct hit isn't required for
84,082 people live in Howard County, and a tornado outbreak's power loss usually reaches far more of Indiana than the tracks themselves touch. A portable battery unit is the faster, no-fuel way to bridge that outage.
What this number is, and is not
One caveat before relying on Howard County's number: it is county-wide, and it covers about 293 square miles, so a single touch counts the same as one in a county a fraction of that size. Weaker pre-1990s tornadoes are also documented as undercounted in NOAA's own record. Howard County has about 84,082 residents.