Flash Flooding in Indiana, May 8, 2002

Name: Flash Flooding in Indiana, May 8, 2002
Start: 2002-05-08T18:30
End: 2002-05-08T21:15
Location: Indiana

May 8, 2002 · NWS IND · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

2 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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: $225,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 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 8, 2:50 PM EST, 3 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 8, 2:50 PM EST, 3 hours 40 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
250 PM EST WED MAY 8 2002

PROBLEM IN AFTERNOON FORECAST IS HOW HEAVY RAIN WILL BE TONIGHT AND
CONTINUED NEED FOR A FLOOD WATCH.

VERY LITTLE IN WAY OF PRECIPITATION EXPECTED THIS EVENING AS MAIN SHOW
WILL SHIFT TO ALONG FRONT BY LATE TONIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING. FEW
SHOWERS ATTM OVER SOUTHEAST PORTION OF THE CWA BUT DOUBT WILL
CONTINUE MUCH LONGER. WARM FRONT HAS MOVED NORTHWARD TO ALONG A
MIE...JUST SOUTH OF LAF LINE AND SHOULD CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTHWARD
LEAVING ALL OF CWA IN WARM SECTOR NEXT 12 TO 18 HOURS.

MODELS SIMILAR IN MOVING COLD FRONT TO WESTERN BORDER BY 12Z-15Z
THURSDAY MORNING AND THINK WILL BE BAND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
AHEAD OF AND ALONG FRONT. SOME HEAVIER RAINS MAY VERY WELL REACH
WESTERN PORTION OF THE CWA BETWEEN 06Z-12Z AND THEREFORE WORDED ZONES
ACCORDINGLY WITH PRECIPITATION MAINLY AFTER MIDNIGHT. COORD WITH
ILN/SDF/PAH ALL AGREE ON CONTINUED NEED FOR FLOOD WATCH CENTRAL AND
SOUTHERN INDIANA AND WILL KEEP RUNNING TIL LATE THURSDAY MORNING.
FRONT TO MOVE EASTWARD ACROSS THE STATE THROUGH EARLY THURSDAY
AFTERNOON WITH ONLY LINGERING SHOWERS WESTERN HALF OF THE AREA BY
NOON. DIMINISHING ACTIVITY EASTERN AREAS DURING THE AFTERNOON. DRY
PERIOD TO BE SOMEWHAT SHORTLIVED AS REINTRODUCED CHANCE OF SHOWERS
FOR SATURDAY. MOS TEMPS CLOSE BUT OVERALL TREND OF COOLING THURSDAY
AND FRIDAY.

IND...FLOOD WATCH
INZ043>049-051>057-060>065-067>072 THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING.
RPG

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 8, 1:47 PM EST, 4 hours 43 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
147 PM EST WED MAY 08 2002

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

0630 AM    3 S WASHINGTON            IN   FLOOD
05/08/02   DAVIESS                        SR257 SOUTH OF
                                          WASHINGTON REPORTED
                                          UNDER WATER. REPORTED
                                          BY LAW ENFORCEMENT
                                          OFFICIAL.

0715 AM    5 NE BEDFORD              IN   FLOOD
05/08/02   LAWRENCE                       SR58 BETWEEN BEDFORD
                                          AND HELTONVILLE FLOODED
                                          IN SEVERAL LOCATIONS.
                                          REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

0730 AM    VINCENNES                 IN   FLOOD
05/08/02   KNOX                           NUMEROUS ROADS IN
                                          COUNTY FLOODED.  SCHOOL
                                          BUS STALLED IN HIGH
                                          WATER.  TRAILER PARK
                                          NEAR KELSO CREEK ALMOST
                                          NEEDED EVACUATION.
                                          REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

0800 AM    NORTH VERNON              IN   FLOOD
05/08/02   JENNINGS                       SR7 AND US50 UNDER
                                          WATER WESTSIDE OF TOWN.
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

1030 AM    TAMPICO                   IN   FLOOD
05/08/02   JACKSON                        SR39 IN SOUTHERN PART
                                          OF COUNTY FLOODED.
                                          REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

The radar

The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 100 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:29 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Vigo

When: May 8, 6:30 PM EST to 9:15 PM EST
Where: Vigo County, Terre Haute
Property damage: $150,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.431, -87.390 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Numerous roads flooded

Flash Flood, Clay

When: May 8, 7:00 PM EST to 9:00 PM EST
Where: Clay County, Countywide
Property damage: $75,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.393, -87.116 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Numerous roads flooded

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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

The same day elsewhere

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: 5295954, 5295955.