Tornado Tracker: Deadly Twisters Kill 2 in Indiana as Severe Storms Batter South Bend Weather and the Midwest

A violent outbreak of severe storms tore through the Midwest on Tuesday night, killing at least two people in Indiana and putting the South Bend weather zone directly in the crosshairs of a tornado warning. The Storm Prediction Center tracked multiple confirmed tornadoes across Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Texas — a sprawling system that left first responders calling the damage "total devastation."

The death toll stands at two. Injuries remain unconfirmed in number.

Tornado Kills 2 in Lake Village, Indiana — South Bend Weather Under Direct Threat

A powerful tornado barreled into Lake Village, Indiana Tuesday night, killing at least two people, injuring several others, and destroying homes and snapping power poles. Newton County bore the worst of it, with Wheatfield also taking a direct hit.

South Bend weather was placed under a full Tornado Warning shortly after 10 PM ET Tuesday. The National Weather Service in Northern Indiana issued the warning for southern St. Joseph County and northwestern Marshall County, valid until 10:45 PM ET, after radar detected rotation over North Liberty — approximately 10 miles southwest of South Bend — moving northeast at 30 mph.

The storm carried hail up to two inches in diameter and wind gusts up to 70 mph, with the warning citing radar-indicated rotation and flagging flying debris as a direct threat to anyone caught outside.

Storm Prediction Center Tracks Multi-State Severe Weather Outbreak

Tuesday's outbreak was no isolated event. During the afternoon and evening of March 10, several intense supercell thunderstorms moved across northern Illinois and northwestern Indiana, with the Storm Prediction Center confirming tornadoes in the Kankakee River Valley — including a "very large" twister in Kankakee County that pushed into northwest Indiana. Giant hail accompanied the system across multiple counties.

Confirmed tornadoes were reported in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Texas, with crews now surveying the destruction to determine final storm strength ratings. The National Weather Service said tornado tracks will be plotted on its damage survey maps once field assessments are complete.

Today's Weather Forecast: Severe Storms Push South and East

The threat has not ended. Thursday's weather forecast shows the storm system tracking from the southern Plains into the Northeast, keeping millions in the path of continued severe weather. Isolated to scattered severe thunderstorms are expected Thursday from the Gulf Coast into parts of the Mid-Atlantic, with a narrow corridor of instability extending across eastern West Virginia into the Mid-Atlantic region.

The Storm Prediction Center's current outlook flags damaging winds as the primary hazard Thursday morning into the afternoon across parts of the Southeast as a cold front pushes through.

A dry, cool air mass overrunning much of the country in the front's wake will suppress thunderstorm potential for most areas by Friday — except the southern Florida peninsula, where the front is expected to stall.

2026 Severe Weather Season: Already Deadly Before Spring

This week's outbreak fits a pattern forecasters flagged before March even started. In Oklahoma, an EF2 tornado near Fairview killed a mother and daughter along U.S. Highway 60, followed by additional tornadoes near Beggs and northern Tulsa. In southern Michigan, early-March tornadoes around Union Lake and Edwardsburg destroyed neighborhoods, killing at least four people — including a 12-year-old boy — and injuring more than a dozen others.

AccuWeather Meteorologist Alex Duffus said forecasters expect tornado counts to run near the historical average for 2026, but warned that "flash flooding is a big concern this year" and that damaging wind gusts may define the season more than raw tornado numbers.

March tornadoes are forecast to focus on a corridor from northern Georgia to Oklahoma, northward through most of Illinois — precisely the corridor Tuesday's outbreak targeted.

The damage survey teams are in the field. The Storm Prediction Center's final count for Tuesday's outbreak has not yet been released.