How Likely Is a Tornado in Warrick County, IN?
How likely is a tornado in Warrick County, IN?
Warrick County has recorded 29 tornado touches in NOAA's 76-year database, a rate of roughly one every 2.6 years - our Elevated band. Put another way: Warrick County sees more tornado activity than 68% of US counties. Within Indiana alone, Warrick County ranks 17 of 92 counties for tornado frequency.
Beyond the frequency band: violent history
21 weak and 8 significant tornadoes make up Warrick County's 29-track record - none violent. NOAA has never logged an EF4 or EF5 crossing this county.
The dollar figure Warrick County's rating leads to
Indiana's Indiana Department of Homeland Security's Residential Safe Room Program is the number that matters for a Warrick 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
The storm that misses Warrick County outright can still take its power out - outbreak-scale outages across Indiana are common well beyond the tracked path. A battery-backup unit handles that without a generator's setup or fuel.
What this number is, and is not
One caveat before relying on Warrick County's number: it is county-wide, and it covers about 385 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. Warrick County has about 66,339 residents.