TornadoLookup

Home / Indiana / Tippecanoe

F4 tornado in Tippecanoe County, Indiana

Tornado April 26, 1994 – April 27, 1994 · Tippecanoe County, Indiana

F4
Rating
13.0 mi
Path length
100 yd
Path width
3
Deaths
70
Injuries
$5.0M
Damage as recorded
What F4 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F4 meant devastating damage: well-built houses levelled; the scale paired it with winds of 207–260 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The path of the tornado was intermittent. The tornado touched down northwest of Lafayette just before midnight, and then moved northeast at a forward speed of about 60 mph. The tornado crossed into Carroll County at 1212 EST and then lifted. Eleven single family homes were destroyed, and 17 homes sustained major damage. Seven single family homes sustained minor damage. Thirteen multi-family dwellings were heavily damaged. At the Sagamore Village Estates mobile home park, 64 mobile homes were destroyed or heavily damaged, and 21 mobile homes sustained minor damage. Three additional mobile homes outside the park were also damaged. Two gas stations and a venetian blind factory were heavily damaged. Total property damage was estimated at 3.5 million dollars. An eleven year old girl was killed when the tornado destroyed her house in Pine View Farms, which is adjacent to Sagamore Village Estates. Her 37 year old stepfather was critically injured at their home, and died the next day. A 24-year old male who was working at the Lafayette Venetian Blind factory was killed when the roof collapsed on him. F11P, M37P, M24O.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 10321817. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.