A Terrifying, Deadly Storm Struck Indiana In 1992 And No One Saw It Coming
It was November 22, 1992. The holiday season was just getting underway, and families across the nation were gathering to celebrate gratitude and togetherness. Unfortunately, for many families across the southern, central, and Midwestern United States, the start of the holidays would be scarred by a terrifying historic weather event. This unusual November tornado outbreak in Indiana was like something out of a horror movie, and sadly, it had deadly consequences.
Writer’s Note: There are very, very few Creative Commons-licensed photos of this event available. For this article, the writer has chosen some photos from other storm events to illustrate the story.
The outbreak of 1992 lasted for 41 hours, and during that time, there were 95 tornadoes - though there might have actually been more that were not officially recorded for multiple potential reasons.
It began November 21st when 32 tornadoes touched down over several states. Terrifyingly, four of those tornadoes would be rated F4s - the second-strongest type of tornado on the Fujita Scale (now the Enhanced Fujita Scale, which changed things up a bit and added an E to the EF-Scale in 2007, among other things). F4/EF4 tornadoes were/are quite rare; only about 1.1% of all tornadoes will be rated EF4s, and even less than that will be rated EF5.
Indiana received the brunt of its tornadoes on November 22nd; on this day, there would be 15 tornadoes that ripped through the Hoosier State - one of which would be rated F4.
This outbreak was unusual for a few reasons, most notably that it occurred at the end of November. The vast majority of tornadoes and severe weather occurs in Indiana during the late spring into summer; they tend to spin up during the months of May, June, and July, with occasional late-summer events occurring from time to time.
Although the National Weather Service and the National Severe Storms Laboratory were well aware of what was coming and did their best to alert the public of the threat, the general populace of the Midwest was not at all accustomed to the idea of tornadoes in November.
Oftentimes, folks become desensitized to warnings when they don't pan out, and as a result, they begin to ignore future warnings as well, assuming that nothing will happen - especially when an event is particularly unusual like this one was. This historic, late-autumn tornado outbreak would claim the lives of 26 people and traumatize tens of thousands more.
The worst of the 15 tornadoes to tear through Indiana was a powerful F4 that touched down near Worthville, Kentucky, and trekked a terrifying 26.7 miles, obliterating homes and farms along the way.
It finally lifted northeast of Antioch, Indiana, but not before doing significant and horrific damage. This tornado crossed the Ohio River not once but twice, and it killed one person and injured dozens more. Most notably, debris from this tornado was found up to five miles away from the parent damage path, indicating incredible winds aloft that ensured all sorts of things made their way into towns that had just narrowly avoided being tornado fodder themselves.
This unusual outbreak was a devastating reminder of just how terrifying severe weather can be - no matter when it strikes.
Over the course of this deadly outbreak, there were 95 (confirmed) tornadoes; of those 95, 12 were F0s, 36 were F1s, 26 were F2s, 15 were F3s, and six were F4s. As far as Indiana was concerned, of its 15 confirmed tornadoes on November 22nd, five were F1s, four were F2s, five were F3s, and just one was F4.
The intense emotional devastation aside, the physical/property damage for this tornado outbreak was enormous.
The storms did more than $300 million in damage, which would be about $566 million today. The event was an exercise in the unfathomable power of nature; for something like this to occur in November, of all months, was almost unheard of.
From 1911 to 2021, there have been just 12 F4 or EF4 tornadoes in the Hoosier State during the 11th month of the year.
Tori Jane is a storm chaser, writer, photographer, and the village idiot - in that order. When she's not out and about dancing with the meanest storms on planet Earth for funsies she can be found wandering, shooting landscapes, writing, editing photos, and otherwise up to no good. Legend has it that she can also be occasionally spotted typing up short bios in the third person, but those rumors are unsubstantiated.
