Flooding in Indiana, April 11 to 16, 2001

Name: Flooding in Indiana, April 11 to 16, 2001
Start: 2001-04-11T17:30
End: 2001-04-16T07:00
Location: Indiana

April 11 to 16, 2001 · NWS IND · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

Around 4 inches of rain fell from the 9th through the 11th causing minor flooding along the Upper portion of the Wabash River from Lafayette to Montezuma. 8 feet (flood stage is 11 feet) on the 12th.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS IND wrote it up.

Around 4 inches of rain fell from the 9th through the 11th causing minor flooding along the Upper portion of the Wabash River from Lafayette to Montezuma. Lafayette crested at 14.8 feet (flood stage is 11 feet) on the 12th. Covington reached 18 feet (flood stage is 16 feet) on the 13th, and Montezuma plateaued at 15.6 feet (flood stage is 14 feet) on the 14th. Minor flooding of agricultural bottomland and a few county road closing resulted.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Indianapolis, IN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 11, 3:00 PM EST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 11, 3:00 PM EST, 2 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
300 PM EST WED APR 11 2001

FCST PRBLM THIS PACKAGE IS CHCS AND TIMING OF SVR WX TONIGHT...AND
TEMPS OVR NEXT FEW DAYS.

LATEST SFC ANALYS PLACES SFC LO OVR ERN KS WITH FNTL COMPLEX OVR THE
ERN PLAINS STATES. VORT MAX/UPR LO OVR N CNTRL KS PER SATELLITE
LOOPS. VIS SATELLITE INDICATES WIDESPREAD CLDS OVR CWA.

MDLS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH SYNOPTIC FEATURES. MAIN DIFFERENCES
IN MSTR FIELDS EARLY AND TEMP FIELDS LATER. ETA/AVN IN CLOSER
AGREEMENT THAN NGM AND WL LEAN TOWARDS THE COMBO SOLN (INCLUDING MOS
POP AND TEMP VALUES).

SYSTEM OVR PLAINS IS FCST TO EJECT NEWD INTO NRN GRT LKS REGION THRU
THURSDAY. NO CONVECTION FIRING OVR CWA ATTM EVEN THO UNSTABLE (LI'S
-4) AND SHUD REMAIN DRY UNTIL ORGANIZED BAND OF TSRA WITH FNTL SYS
PROPOGATES INTO CWA THIS EVENING (NO TRIGGER AT THIS POINT). THERE
ARE SOME HINTS IN THE WND FIELD OF SHEAR...SO A SLIGHT CHC OF
TORNADIC ACTIVITY ERLY...THO STRNG WNDS (LO LVL WNDS UP TO 50
KTS)...MID LVL DRY AIR (APPARENT IN DRY SLOT OVR PLAINS) WUD POINT
TO DAMAGING WNDS AND HAIL AS MAJOR SVR WX THREAT. WND FIELD DOES
BECOME MORE UNIDIRECTIONAL ERLY EVENING HINTG THAT SUPER CELL
ACTIVITY OVR PLAINS WL CHG TO LN OF STORMS AS THEY DVLP INTO
INDIANA. LN OF STORMS SHUD REACH IN/IL BORDER AROUND 00-02Z...INDY
AREA BY 02-04Z AND ERN AREAS 04-06Z.

AFT LN OF TSRA PASS...DRY SLOT WORKS INTO AREA...SO SHUD CLR
OVERNIGHT. WK SUBSIDENCE OVR CWA THRU FRI NITE...SO NO PCPN. A BIT
COOLER AIR OVR AREA BEHIND FNT. TEMPS ABOUT 10 DEGREES COOLER (STILL
SBV NORMAL THO).

.IND...NONE
EDDY

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Tippecanoe

When: April 11, 5:30 PM EST to April 16, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Tippecanoe forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 40.389, -86.894 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Warren

When: April 11, 5:30 PM EST to April 16, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Warren forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 40.347, -87.353 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Fountain

When: April 12, 11:45 AM EST to April 15, 11:00 PM EST
Where: Fountain forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 40.121, -87.242 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Vermillion

When: April 12, 11:45 AM EST to April 15, 11:00 PM EST
Where: Vermillion forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 39.854, -87.464 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Parke

When: April 12, 10:15 PM EST to April 16, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Parke forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 39.774, -87.206 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Indiana in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Indiana, April 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5236761, 5236762, 5236763, 5236764, 5236765.