Flooding in Indiana, December 24 to 28, 2003

Name: Flooding in Indiana, December 24 to 28, 2003
Start: 2003-12-24T13:00
End: 2003-12-28T15:41
Location: Indiana

December 24 to 28, 2003 · NWS IND · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

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.

1 to 2 inches and localized areas of 3 inches of rain fell across much of the southern half of the White River Basin on the 22nd and 23rd with an additional half inch of rain falling on the 29th. This caused lowland flooding. Location: FS: Crest: Date of Crest:Spencer 14 15.8 12/26/03Elliston 18 21.3 12/26/03Newberry 13 14.8 12/27/03

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 Dec 24, 3:00 AM EST, 10 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 24, 3:00 AM EST, 10 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
300 AM EST WED DEC 24 2003

.DISCUSSION...IR SATE SHOWING LOW CLOUDS ACROSS STATE IN WAKE OF
CDFNT. FNT NOW LOCATED FROM GREAT LAKES SOUTH THRU WV AND NRN AL.
LAKE EFFECT SNOW CONTS TO FALL NEAR LAKE MICHIGAN WHILE A FEW LIGHT
SNOW SHOWERS FALL ACROSS CENTRAL CWA.

MODELS CONT TO BE IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH PLACEMENT AND
STRENGTH OF H5 LOW AND TROF. AT THE SFC...MODELS ALSO HAVE A SIMILAR
APPEARANCE. WL USE BLEND FOR THIS FORECAST.

MAIN FORECAST ISSUE WL BE WHEN CLD CVR DIMINISHES ALONG WITH CHC OF
FLURRIES.

H5 TROF SLOWLY MVG ACROSS INDIANA TODAY. A SERIES OF S/WVS WL CONT
TO PROVIDE SUFFICIENT ENERGY FOR A FEW SNOW FLURRIES. TIME SECTIONS
ALSO SHOW AMPLE LL MOISTURE SO EXPECT LOW CLOUDS TO LINGER MUCH OF
THE DAY. THE COMBINATION OF TROF AND LL MOISTURE WL BE ENOUGH TO SEE
A FEW SNOW FLAKES ON CHRISTMAS EVE. DO NOT EXPECT TO SEE ANY
ACCUMULATION. H85 COLD DOME (-10C BY 18Z) WL ALSO KEEP TEMPS ON THE
COLD SIDE TODAY WITH HIGHS THE 30S.

AS SANTA BEGINS TO MAKE HIS JOURNEY ACROSS THE STATE TONIGHT...HE WL
EXPERIENCE COLD TEMPS AND BREAKS IN THE CLD CVR. BULK OF FLURRY
ACTIVITY WL END AS LL MOISTURE BEGINS TO EXIT THE CWA. MUCH OF THE
STATE WL BE ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE TROF AS IT MVS EAST. WL MENTION
CLDS BUT NO SNOW IN FORECAST.

CHRISTMAS DAY AND CHRISTMAS NIGHT WL BE A NICE WITH PARTLY CLOUDY
SKIES. H85 COLD POOL AND H5 TROF BEGIN SLIDE EAST AS H85 RIDGE WORKS
INTO STATE. AT THE SFC...HIGH PRES BUILDS IN FROM SRN STATES KEEPING
THE WEATHER QUITE.

A CHANCE FOR RAIN RETURNS SUNDAY AS A CDFNT TRAVELS ACROSS
INDIANA.

MOS GUIDANCE LOOKS GOOD USING THE MAV/FWC. MET DATA SEEMS A BIT WARM
CONSIDERING H85 COLD DOME MVG INTO CWA TODAY. WL USE BLEND OF
MAV/FWC. MOS GUIDANCE HAS A VERY GOOD HANDLE ON OVRNGT LOWS
WITH H85 COLD DOME AND CLEARING SKIES. WL USE BLEND. CHRISTMAS DAY
TEMPS LOOK GOOD AS WARMER H85 AIR BEGINS TO FILTER BACK INTO THE
CWA. WL USE BLEND.

&&

.IND WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.
&&

BIELINSKI

Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 24, 5:42 AM EST, 7 hours 18 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
542 AM EST WED DEC 24 2003

INZ021-028>031-035>049-051>057-060>065-067>072-251035-
BARTHOLOMEW-BOONE-BROWN-CARROLL-CLAY-CLINTON-DAVIESS-DECATUR-
DELAWARE-FOUNTAIN-GREENE-HAMILTON-HANCOCK-HENDRICKS-HENRY-HOWARD-
JACKSON-JENNINGS-JOHNSON-KNOX-LAWRENCE-MADISON-MARION-MARTIN-MONROE-
MONTGOMERY-MORGAN-OWEN-PARKE-PUTNAM-RANDOLPH-RUSH-SHELBY-SULLIVAN-
TIPPECANOE-TIPTON-VERMILLION-VIGO-WARREN-
542 AM EST WED DEC 24 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL INDIANA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

SNOW FLURRIES WILL CONTINUE TO FALL ACROSS THE AREA TODAY. LITTLE TO
NO ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

THERE IS A CHANCE FOR RAIN LATE SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT.
RAIN COULD MIX WITH SNOW SUNDAY NIGHT.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

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, Greene

When: December 24, 1:00 PM EST to December 28, 9:27 AM EST
Where: Greene forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 39.036, -86.962 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Owen

When: December 24, 5:27 PM EST to December 27, 12:20 PM EST
Where: Owen forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 39.313, -86.838 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Daviess

When: December 25, 10:07 AM EST to December 28, 3:41 PM EST
Where: Daviess forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.702, -87.072 (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 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Indiana, December 2003

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: 5328361, 5328360, 5328362.