Alert archive / Indiana / Beach Hazards Statements in 2026

Beach Hazards Statement 13, NWS Chicago, IL

September 12, 2026Lake County, Porter County, Indiana

NWS Chicago, IL issued this beach hazards statement at Sep 12, 2026, 2:40 PM CDT for Lake County, Porter County, Indiana. It took effect at Sep 13, 2026, 10:00 AM CDT. It was in force for 17 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 12, 2026, 2:40 PM CDT (19:40 UTC)
In effect from
Sep 13, 2026, 10:00 AM CDT
Expired
Sep 14, 2026, 3:00 AM CDT
In force
17 hr
Issued by
NWS Chicago, IL

Counties Lake County, IN, Porter County, IN

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 73 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:39 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The text

As transmitted.

342 
WHUS43 KLOT 121940
CFWLOT

Coastal Hazard Message
National Weather Service Chicago IL
240 PM CDT Sat Sep 12 2026

INZ001-002-130345-
/O.NEW.KLOT.BH.S.0013.260913T1500Z-260914T0300Z/
Lake IN-Porter-
240 PM CDT Sat Sep 12 2026

...BEACH HAZARDS STATEMENT IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY MORNING THROUGH
SUNDAY EVENING...

* WHAT...High wave action and dangerous currents expected at
  Indiana Lake Michigan beaches. Waves 3 to 6 ft expected.

* WHERE...Lake IN and Porter Counties.

* WHEN...From Sunday morning through Sunday evening.

* IMPACTS...Swimming conditions will be life threatening, 
  especially for inexperienced swimmers.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Remain out of the water to avoid dangerous swimming conditions
and do not venture out onto piers, jetties, breakwalls, or other
shoreline structures.

&&

$$
6 follow-up statements
845 
WHUS43 KLOT 130237
CFWLOT

Coastal Hazard Message
National Weather Service Chicago IL
937 PM CDT Sat Sep 12 2026

INZ001-002-131045-
/O.CON.KLOT.BH.S.0013.260913T1500Z-260914T0300Z/
Lake IN-Porter-
937 PM CDT Sat Sep 12 2026

...BEACH HAZARDS STATEMENT REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY MORNING
THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING...

* WHAT...High wave action and dangerous currents expected at Lake
  Michigan beaches. Waves 3 to 6 feet expected.

* WHERE...Lake IN and Porter Counties.

* WHEN...From Sunday morning through Sunday evening.

* IMPACTS...Swimming conditions will be life threatening, 
  especially for inexperienced swimmers.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Remain out of the water to avoid dangerous swimming conditions
and do not venture out onto piers, jetties, breakwalls, or other
shoreline structures.

&&

$$
935 
WHUS43 KLOT 130757
CFWLOT

Coastal Hazard Message
National Weather Service Chicago IL
257 AM CDT Sun Sep 13 2026

INZ001-002-131600-
/O.CON.KLOT.BH.S.0013.260913T1500Z-260914T0300Z/
Lake IN-Porter-
257 AM CDT Sun Sep 13 2026

...BEACH HAZARDS STATEMENT REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM CDT THIS
MORNING THROUGH THIS EVENING...

* WHAT...High wave action and dangerous currents expected at 
  Lake Michigan beaches. Waves 3 to 6 feet expected.

* WHERE...Lake IN and Porter Counties.

* WHEN...From 10 AM CDT this morning through this evening.

* IMPACTS...Swimming conditions will be life threatening, 
  especially for inexperienced swimmers.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Remain out of the water to avoid dangerous swimming conditions
and do not venture out onto piers, jetties, breakwalls, or other
shoreline structures.

&&

$$
721 
WHUS43 KLOT 131531
CFWLOT

Coastal Hazard Message
National Weather Service Chicago IL
1031 AM CDT Sun Sep 13 2026

INZ001-002-132345-
/O.CON.KLOT.BH.S.0013.000000T0000Z-260914T0300Z/
Lake IN-Porter-
1031 AM CDT Sun Sep 13 2026

...BEACH HAZARDS STATEMENT REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CDT THIS
EVENING...

* WHAT...High wave action and dangerous currents expected at 
  Lake Michigan beaches. Waves 3 to 6 feet expected.

* WHERE...Lake IN and Porter Counties.

* WHEN...Until 10 PM CDT this evening.

* IMPACTS...Swimming conditions will be life threatening, 
  especially for inexperienced swimmers.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Remain out of the water to avoid dangerous swimming conditions
and do not venture out onto piers, jetties, breakwalls, or other
shoreline structures.

&&

$$
030 
WHUS43 KLOT 131951
CFWLOT

Coastal Hazard Message
National Weather Service Chicago IL
251 PM CDT Sun Sep 13 2026

INZ001-002-140300-
/O.CON.KLOT.BH.S.0013.000000T0000Z-260914T0300Z/
Lake IN-Porter-
251 PM CDT Sun Sep 13 2026

...BEACH HAZARDS STATEMENT REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CDT THIS
EVENING...

* WHAT...High wave action and dangerous currents expected at 
  Lake Michigan beaches. Waves 3 to 6 feet expected.

* WHERE...Lake IN and Porter Counties.

* WHEN...Until 10 PM CDT this evening.

* IMPACTS...Swimming conditions will be life threatening, 
  especially for inexperienced swimmers.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Remain out of the water to avoid dangerous swimming conditions
and do not venture out onto piers, jetties, breakwalls, or other
shoreline structures.

&&

$$
750 
WHUS43 KLOT 140229
CFWLOT

Coastal Hazard Message
National Weather Service Chicago IL
929 PM CDT Sun Sep 13 2026

INZ001-002-140800-
/O.EXT.KLOT.BH.S.0013.000000T0000Z-260914T0800Z/
Lake IN-Porter-
929 PM CDT Sun Sep 13 2026

...BEACH HAZARDS STATEMENT NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 AM CDT MONDAY...

* WHAT...High wave action and dangerous currents expected at 
  Lake Michigan beaches. Waves 3 to 6 feet expected.

* WHERE...Lake IN and Porter Counties.

* WHEN...Until 3 AM CDT Monday.

* IMPACTS...Swimming conditions will be life threatening, 
  especially for inexperienced swimmers.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Remain out of the water to avoid dangerous swimming conditions
and do not venture out onto piers, jetties, breakwalls, or other
shoreline structures.

&&

$$
043 
WHUS43 KLOT 140808
CFWLOT

Coastal Hazard Message
National Weather Service Chicago IL
308 AM CDT Mon Sep 14 2026

INZ001-002-140915-
/O.EXP.KLOT.BH.S.0013.000000T0000Z-260914T0800Z/
Lake IN-Porter-
308 AM CDT Mon Sep 14 2026

...BEACH HAZARDS STATEMENT HAS EXPIRED...

Moderate swimming conditions will persist today.

$$

ILZ006-103-141615-
/O.NEW.KLOT.BH.S.0014.260914T2200Z-260915T1200Z/
Lake IL-Northern Cook-
308 AM CDT Mon Sep 14 2026

...BEACH HAZARDS STATEMENT IN EFFECT FROM THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH
TUESDAY MORNING...

* WHAT...High wave action and dangerous currents expected at Lake
  Michigan beaches. Waves 5 to 8 ft expected.

* WHERE...Lake IL and Northern Cook Counties.

* WHEN...From this afternoon through Tuesday morning.

* IMPACTS...Swimming conditions will be life threatening, 
  especially for inexperienced swimmers.


PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Remain out of the water to avoid dangerous swimming conditions
and do not venture out onto piers, jetties, breakwalls, or other
shoreline structures.

&&

$$

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this beach hazards statement went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Chicago, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this beach hazards statement went out at Sep 12, 1:30 PM CDT, 1 hour 10 minutes earlier. Its key messages:

  • Turning cooler tomorrow with a chance for afternoon showers.
  • Waves of heavy rain producing thunderstorms possible in the general region early to mid next week.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 12, 1:30 PM CDT, 1 hour 10 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Chicago/Romeoville, IL
130 PM CDT Sat Sep 12 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Turning cooler tomorrow with a chance for afternoon showers.

- Waves of heavy rain producing thunderstorms possible in the
  general region early to mid next week.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 130 PM CDT Sat Sep 12 2026

A cold front is pushing into northwest Illinois early this
afternoon and will continue to shift across the forecast area
through this evening. While dewpoints have been slowly climbing
into the upper 60s/near 70 degrees ahead of this boundary,
forecast soundings remain generally capped to surface-based
convection through the afternoon with 700 mb temperatures near
+9 C. That said, MLCIN may erode during a brief period (about
4-7 PM) just enough such that we can't entirely rule out some
isolated shower development along the front, mainly across NE
Illinois where mid-level temperatures are forecast to be
slightly cooler.

Surface high pressure will begin to build more notably into the
region on Sunday. The post-frontal airmass will be characterized
by high temperatures generally in the lower 70s north and mid-
upper 70s south with dewpoints in the 50s. A plume of steeper
mid-level lapse rates will advect across the area through the
morning. At the same time, a 500 mb speed max associated with
the southern terminus of an advancing trough across Ontario into
the Hudson Bay will drive an increasing frontogenetic response
during the afternoon. While the post-frontal airmass will have
been scoured of deeper moisture below 10 kft, there is some
indication that increasing f-gen forcing may sufficiently
lift/moisten the aforementioned mid-level lapse rate plume to
result in the development of scattered high-based showers during
the afternoon. With the dry sub-cloud layer, there will likely
be quite a bit of virga initially, but given the brief overlap
of deeper ascent within the modest lapse rate plume, suspect
we'll manage to crank out some showers and perhaps even an
isolated rumble of thunder during the afternoon. Chance PoPs
look reasonable at this time.

The core of a mid 1020s mb surface high will settle across the
Upper Midwest Sunday night. Clearing skies and easing winds
during this time will allow temperatures to dip into the 40s and
50s Monday morning. Winds will turn southeasterly through the
day on Monday as the surface high begins to shift east across
the Ohio River Valley. Diurnal mixing into the base of the
lingering subsidence inversion will result in some afternoon
gustiness.

On Monday night, warm advection will ramp up notably across the
area as a southwesterly low-level jet intensifies. This will
push a modest theta-e plume east of the Mississippi River ahead
of another synoptic cold front into Tuesday morning. A marked
increase in column moisture is forecast during this period, with
PWATs advertised to push towards 2 inches across the northwest
half of the CWA. While large scale forcing for ascent isn't
forecast to be terribly significant during this time frame,
persistent isentropic upglide within such a moist airmass will
likely be sufficient for at least scattered shower and isolated
thunderstorm development within the main corridor of deeper
moisture north of I-80 or so. Not overly concerned with a flood
threat during this period even given the essentially record PWAT
values for this time of year as fast west-to- east cloud-
bearing flow will remain in place.

The aforementioned cold front will shift across northern
Illinois through Tuesday afternoon. The current multi-model
consensus has this boundary in the vicinity of the Kankakee
River during peak heating. While significant inhibition to
surface-based convection is forecast to be in place during the
morning, this may erode sufficiently to facilitate the
development of afternoon/evening convection. Large scale forcing
doesn't look particularly robust, with neutral to slight 500 mb
height rises, so suspect any coverage at this point should
remain generally isolated to widely scattered along and south of
the front. Could envision a strong storm potential given a
modest increase in deep layer flow during this time frame as
well. Some elevated instability may slosh northward atop and
behind the cold front through the afternoon which may yield
additional shower and embedded thunderstorm development into
Tuesday evening and overnight into Wednesday morning.

While the main frontal zone will eventually stall, it remains a
bit unclear exactly where that will happen, and whether
thunderstorm activity will be robust and expansive enough to
shove the front further southward. Conceptually, the airmass
will be primed for waves of heavy rain-producing showers and
storms during this period with near or record PWATs in place.
That said, the latest guidance continues to show the best
overlap of stronger LLJ-induced moisture transport/convergence
and upper jet dynamics generally focusing farther to our south
and west across southern Iowa and northern Missouri which may
act to temper the coverage of heavy rainfall. Still, we'll need
to keep a close eye on this period and into Thursday for at
least a localized flood threat given the impressive moisture
profile in place.

Extended guidance suggests that while we may see an injection of
drier air towards Friday, this will likely be short-lived as
another robust disturbance approaches the region next weekend,
bringing another potential for rain to the local area.

Carlaw

&&

.AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z MONDAY/...
Issued at 110 PM CDT Sat Sep 12 2026

Key Messages:

- There is a chance for showers to affect the terminals
  tomorrow.

West-southwesterly winds with occasional gusts to 15-20 kts will
veer more west-northwesterly this afternoon as a cold front
works its way through the region from the west. Still couldn't
completely rule out a few sprinkles or showers developing
along the front, but the odds of any precipitation occurring at
the terminals this afternoon still appears to be quite low
(roughly a 15% chance or lower). Also, based on upstream
observations, wouldn't be surprised if there was a brief period
of MVFR ceilings near/behind the front at RFD this afternoon,
though VFR conditions should otherwise prevail through tonight.

An upper-level disturbance will pass through the region
tomorrow and will likely be accompanied by some showers. Model
guidance remains mixed regarding the overall coverage of showers
tomorrow and where the axis of better shower coverage will
set up, so for starters, opted to introduce PROB30 groups for
SHRA during the time period when large-scale forcing for ascent
will be maximized over the area (roughly midday through the
mid-late afternoon). That said, a couple of models suggest that
a few showers could occur as early as 11-12Z. While such a
scenario is plausible, it is currently not a likely enough
outcome to warrant an earlier mention of precipitation in the
TAFs at this time. The odds of lightning occurring near the
terminals tomorrow are fairly low, but non-zero (20% chance or
less).

Lastly, there are some hints in model guidance that a
northeasterly wind shift could occur at ORD and MDW tomorrow
afternoon. This scenario is currently depicted in a small
minority of the latest forecast guidance, so will carry
prevailing north-northwesterly winds in the ORD and MDW TAFs
through the day tomorrow and will wait to see if such a
solution garners more support in forthcoming model runs.

Ogorek

&&

.LOT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
IL...None.
IN...None.
LM...None.

&&

Visit us at weather.gov/chicago
Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 12, 1:58 PM CDT, 42 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Chicago/Romeoville IL
158 PM CDT Sat Sep 12 2026

ILZ003>006-008-010>013-019>021-023-032-033-039-103>108-INZ001-002-
010-011-019-131900-
Winnebago-Boone-McHenry-Lake IL-Ogle-Lee-De Kalb-Kane-DuPage-
La Salle-Kendall-Grundy-Kankakee-Livingston-Iroquois-Ford-
Northern Cook-Central Cook-Southern Cook-Northern Will-
Southern Will-Eastern Will-Lake IN-Porter-Newton-Jasper-Benton-
158 PM CDT Sat Sep 12 2026 /258 PM EDT Sat Sep 12 2026/

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of north central
Illinois...northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana.

.DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight.

  No hazardous weather is expected at this time.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday.

Sunday and Sunday night...
  High Swim Risk Indiana Beaches.
Monday and Monday night...
  High Swim Risk Illinois Beaches.
Monday night through Wednesday...
  Limited Thunderstorm Risk.
  Elevated Flooding Risk.
Thursday and Friday...
  Limited Thunderstorm Risk.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

 Spotter activation will not be necessary through tonight.

LMZ740>745-131900-
Winthrop Harbor to Wilmette Harbor IL-
Wilmette Harbor to Northerly Island IL-
Northerly Island to Calumet Harbor IL-
Calumet Harbor IL to Gary IN-Gary to Burns Harbor IN-
Burns Harbor to Michigan City IN-
158 PM CDT Sat Sep 12 2026

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of the Illinois
nearshore waters of Lake Michigan and the Indiana nearshore
waters of Lake Michigan.

.DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight.

  No hazardous weather is expected at this time.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday.

Sunday...
  Hazardous conditions for small craft are likely for Indiana
  nearshore.
Monday and Tuesday...
  Hazardous conditions for small craft are likely.
  Limited Thunderstorm Risk.
Wednesday...
  Limited Thunderstorm Risk.
Thursday...
  Hazardous conditions for small craft are likely.

Carlaw

Visit us at www.weather.gov/chicago

Nearby

Beach Hazards Statements in Indiana, 2026Every beach hazards statement in 2026

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.