Name: Flooding in Indiana, May 12 to 21, 2002
Start: 2002-05-12T14:30
End: 2002-05-21T03:00
Location: Indiana

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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: 3

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.

Flooding along the Wabash River. Extensive flooding of lowland and agricultural land. Flood Stage: Crest: Date of Crest:Lafayette 11.0 17.67 05/14Covington 16.0 22.22 05/15

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 May 12, 2:35 AM EST, 11 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 12, 2:35 AM EST, 11 hours 55 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
235 AM EST SUS MAY 12 2002

...FLOOD WATCH TODAY AND TONIGHT...

MAIN FORECAST PROBLEM THIS MORNING WILL BE HOW MUCH RAIN AREAS WILL
RECEIVE. THIS MORNING A STATIONARY FRONT IS ACROSS THE NORTHERN
BOURDER OF INDIANA. THIS FRONT WILL MOVE SLOWLY TO THE SOUTH.

RADAR HAS LARGE AREA OF RAIN ACROSS NORTHERN INDIANA. THIS WILL SLIP
SOUTH DURING THE DAY. AN AREA OF STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS HAS JUST
CROSSED THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. A WARNING THAT HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR
THESE WAS CANCELLED DUE TO WEAKENING. THESE WILL TAKE AT LEAST 6
HOURS TO REACH INDIANA. SINCE THEY WILL OCCURRING DURING MOST STABLE
PART OF DAY DONT SEE THEM GAINING ANY STRONGER IF AT ALL. MAIN
PROBLEM WILL BE HEAVY RAIN.

MODELS ARE CONSISTANT WITH AREAS OF RAIN. AVERAGE AROUND 1.5 INCH
TODAY AND TONIGHT. DUE TO ALREADY SATURATED CONDITIONS WILL GO WITH
FLOOD WATCH TODAY AND TONIGHT. THE HEAVIEST RAIN WILL MOVE OUT OF
THE NORTH THIS EVE BUT WILL CONTINUE WITH HIGH POPS SO WILL CONTINUE
THE FLOOD WATCH THERE.

GOOD WAA. TEMPS S AND SW OF HERE WERE IN THE MID TO UPPER 70S. WILL
GO A LITTLE ABOVE GUID.

TEMPS DROP OFF GOOD AFTER FROPA. GUID IS USUALLY A LITTLE SLOW WITH
BRINGING IN COLDER AIR. WILL GO A LITTLE COOLER THAN GUID.

WILL CONTINUE WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE CENTRAL AND N MAINLY
IN THE MORNING MONDAY WITH LIKELY SOUTH. SHOULD BE MUCH LIGHTER SO
WILL NOT CONTINUE THE FLOOD WATCH FOR THAT PERIOD. WITH COOLER AIR
MOVING IN WILL GO LOWER THAN GUID TEMPS.

IND...FLOOD WATCH ENTIRE CWA TODAY AND TONIGHT.
HAINES

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 12, 10:18 AM EST, 4 hours 12 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
1018 AM EST SUN MAY 12 2002

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1000 AM    TERRE HAUTE               IN   FLOOD
05/12/02   VIGO                           REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.
                                          ROADS WERE CLOSED IN
                                          NORTH AND WEST VIGO
                                          COUNTY DUE TO FLOODING.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Tippecanoe

When: May 12, 2:30 PM EST to May 20, 6:00 AM EST
Where: Tippecanoe forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.389, -86.894 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Vermillion

When: May 12, 2:30 PM EST to May 21, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Vermillion forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 39.854, -87.464 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Fountain

When: May 12, 2:30 PM EST to May 21, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Fountain forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.121, -87.242 (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

More

Every storm in Indiana in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Indiana, May 2002

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: 5296328, 5296329, 5296330.