Descriptions of the strongest and deadliest April 3, 1974 Super Outbreak tornadoes in the Northern Indiana NWS office's area of responsibility, from Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991 by Thomas P. Grazulis.

Henry County to Jay County, Indiana
Touchdown:  3:35pm
Dead:  1
Injured:  12
Width:  1000 yards
Path length:  22 miles
F-scale:  F4
Moved north-northeast from one mile southwest of Blountsville, passing east of Parker and ending three miles north of Ridgeville, just over the Jay County border.  The funnel was a mile wide as it crossed Route 32 east of Parker, and displayed remarkably clear multiple vortices.  It ripped apart the large, steel-reinforced Monroe Central School complex on one side of Route 32, and leveled homes on the other side, killing a woman.  Forests were "reduced to matchsticks".  Students from Monroe Central had been dismissed 20 minutes earlier.

Benton County to Lagrange County, Indiana
Touchdown:  4:50pm
Dead:  19
Injured:  362
Width:  800 yards
Path length:  121 miles (family)
F-scale:  F4
What was probably a family of two or three tornadoes began in an open field, two miles west of Otterbein.  The funnel passed just north of Chalmers, directly through Monticello and Talma, hit the south half of Leesburg, crossed Dewart Lake and Lake Wawasee, passed north of Ligonier, south of Topeka, and ended near Oliver Lake.  Rapidly intensifying, it leveled a home north of Otterbein and killed two people.  Doing only slight damage as it passed north of Chalmers, White County, the tornado apparently intensified as it neared Monticello.  Residents were well warned, and only two people were killed as the funnel swept through the heart of the city, destroying the landmark county  courthouse.  The stores were closed, as usual, on a Wednesday afternoon.  A minibus, caught by the tornado as it was crossing the Tippecanoe River, was thrown off the bridge into the river, killing five of its six passengers.  Maximum intensity was reached northeast of Monticello, fortunately for the town.  Farms northeast of town were completely leveled.  Crossing Fulton County, and nearing Rochester, a truck was blown from Route 14, killing the driver.  A couple was then killed in their mobile home.  In the southern part of the town of Atwood, Kosciusko County, a visitor from Mexico City was killed.  Buildings were damaged at F3 intensity in the southern half of Leesburg.  In the southwest corner of Elkhart County [sic -- author probably meant southeast Elkhart County...though he may have also meant to say northwest Noble County], a boy was killed in a campground as the funnel crossed Route 6.  An elementary scgool was destroyed north of Ligonier, Noble County.  In Lagrange County, a woman was killed near Topeka, and the funnel lifted near the Olvier Lake airfield.  Damage in the Rochester area alone totalled $10,000,000.

Tipton County to Grant County, Indiana
Touchdown:  6:45pm
Dead:  0
Injured:  12
Width:  350 yards
Path length:  19 miles
F-scale:   F2
Moved northeast from near Windfall, passing just west of West Liberty to Swayzee, and ending two miles east of Sweetser.  Many homes and mobile homes were damaged or destroyed, especially at Swayzee, where most of the injuries occurred.

Paulding County to Putnam County, Ohio
Touchdown:  6:45pm
Dead:  0
Injured:  1
Width:  unknown
Path length:  10 miles
Moved northeast from four miles south of Oakwood, passing about one mile northwest of Continental.  One home was destroyed, along with garages, two barns, and a machine shop.  Four homes were damaged.

Noble County to Steuben County, Indiana
Touchdown:  6:50pm
Dead:  5
Injured:  53
Width:  150 yards
Path length:  36 miles
F-scale:  F3
Moved northeast from three miles southwest of Brimfield, crossing Sylvan Lake, crossing south of South Milford, crossing Big Long Lake and Silver Lake, then widening to a downburst stage and ending a few miles north-northwest of Fremont.  At Sylvan Lake, a man was killed in his island home, and a mother and child died in their trailer.  A couple was drowned as their mobile home was thrown into Turkey Lake.

Huntington County, Indiana
Touchdown:  7:10pm
Dead:  0
Injured:  0
Width:  350 yards
Path length:  11 miles
F-scale:  F2
Moved northeast from near Route 218, southwest of Warren, destroying 16 commercial buildings in the town of Plum Tree.

Wells County to Adams County, Indiana
Touchdown:  7:15pm
Dead:  0
Injured:  0
Width:  175 yards
Path length:  12 miles
F-scale:  F2
Moved northeast from three miles southwest of Bluffton, passing just southeast and east of that town and ending one mile west of Peterson.  Eight homes were torn apart and two trailers were destroyed six miles northeast Bluffton.

Hillsdale County to Jackson County, Michigan
Touchdown:  7:30pm
Dead:  2
Injured:  31
Width:  400 yards
Path length:  21 miles
F-scale:  F2
Moved northeast from two miles west of Hillsdale to west of Clark lake.  About 160 homes and trailers were damaged or destroyed.  A couple was killed when a tree crushed their mobile home five miles northeast of Hillsdale.  Most of the injuries were in mobile homes.

Paulding County, Ohio
Touchdown:  7:45pm
Dead:  0
INjured:  0
Width:  175 uards
Path length:  8 miles
F-scale:  F2
Moved northeast from three miles southwest of Melrose, ending four miles north of Oakwood.  Five mobile homes and a barn were torn apart.

Paulding County, Ohio
Touchdown:  8:00pm
Dead:  0
Injured:  0
Width:  90 yards
Path length:  7 miles
F-scale:  F2
Moved east-northeast from northeast of Payne to suthwest of Paulding.  Two barns and a home were torn apart.

Hillsdale County, Michigan
Touchdown:  8:10pm
Dead:  0
Injured:  3
Width:  400 yards
Path length:  10 miles
F-scale:  F2
Moved northeast and north from one mile north of Waldron to just west of Hudson.  A home was unroofed and a barn was destroyed near Prattville.  Two occupants were injured as a mobile home "exploded" near Hudson.  One person was injured near Waldron when part of a barn was torn off and thrown through a house.

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