A small line of strong thunderstorms moved from west to east across central Indiana on 15 September 2005. The storms mainly produced heavy rain, although a few areas of minor damage were discovered.
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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.
The episode as NWS IND wrote it up.
A small line of strong thunderstorms moved from west to east across central Indiana on 15 September 2005. The storms mainly produced heavy rain, although a few areas of minor damage were discovered.
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 Sep 15, 3:22 PM EST, 4 hours 23 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 322 PM EST THU SEP 15 2005 .DISCUSSION...MAIN PROBLEM FOR THIS FORECAST WILL REMAIN CENTERED ON RAINFALL FOR TONIGHT AND EARLY FRIDAY MORNING. SURFACE MAP AT 18Z SHOWS A STATIONARY FRONT ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA EXTENDED WESTWARD INTO A SURFACE LOW NEAR KANSAS CITY. STRONG SHORTWAVE TROUGH EVIDENT ON WATER VAPOR IMAGERY CURRENTLY EJECTING EASTWARD OUT OF KANSAS. LARGE SWATH OF RAINFALL HAS BEEN EVIDENT ALL DAY ON RADAR MOSAIC IMAGERY...CONTINUING AN EASTWARD PROGRESSION INTO THE REGION. MODEL SOLUTIONS REGARDING THIS FORECAST PROBLEM SHOW SOME DIFFERENCES...BUT HAVE COME MORE INTO LINE WITH EACH OTHER OF LATE. BIGGEST DIFFERENCE AT THIS TIME WOULD BE IN THE SPEED OF THE SYSTEM AND THE EVENTUAL CUT OFF OF RAIN ACROSS THE AREA. BY 12Z ON FRIDAY...ETA SURFACE LOW IN EASTERN OHIO...WHILE GFS SHOWS THIS LOW IN SOUTHERN INDIANA AT THE SAME TIME. ALOFT SHOWS SIMILAR DIFFERENCES...WITH GFS SLOWER ON THE EASTWARD MOVEMENT OF ITS CUT OFF LOWS AT 700 AND 850 MB. FOR THIS PACKAGE HAVE SIDED MOSTLY WITH THE NAM MODEL BECAUSE A FASTER SYSTEM MOVEMENT MAKES MORE SENSE WITH LITTLE IN THE WAY OF BLOCKING EVIDENT IN THE PATTERN. FOR TONIGHT...THE RAIN SHIELD SHOULD CONTINUE ITS EASTWARD MOVEMENT...AND HIGH POPS IN THE FORECAST THROUGH 06Z TONIGHT. ETA SHOWING STRONG ISENTROPIC LIFTING ON THE 310K SURFACE...BUT THIS IS LARGELY OVER WITH BY 06Z. AN ADDITIONAL CONCERN IS ALONG WITH CURRENT RADAR TRENDS ILLUSTRATING ALMOST TWO SEPARATE PRECIP AREAS AND THESE ARE ALIGNED WITH WHERE THE SURFACE STATIONARY BOUNDARY IS. WITH THE BOUNDARY PROGGED TO REMAIN ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA...THIS COULD BE A FLY IN THE OINTMENT AND ALLOW THE HEAVIEST PRECIP NORTH OF THE WARM FRONT ACROSS THE NORTHERN FORECAST AREA. VERY HIGH POPS IN THE FORECAST THROUGH 06Z TONIGHT...WITH A LAST MINUTE EDIT TO THE FORECAST TO BRING THEM DOWN INTO THE CHANCE CATEGORY AFTER 06Z. SIGNIFICANT RAIN SHOULD LARGELY BE OUT OF THE AREA BY DAYBREAK FRIDAY...BUT NOT DISCOUNTING A FEW LINGERING SHOWERS WITH THE 500 AND 700 MB TROUGH AXIS CLEARING THE AREA THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS. EXPECT SOME CLOUDINESS TO REMAIN IN THE WAKE OF THE SYSTEM AND HELP TO HOLD TEMPERATURES DOWN A BIT..ESPECIALLY EAST. THIS THINKING WAS IN LINE WITH THE MOS GUIDANCE NUMBERS FOR HIGHS. OVERNIGHT FRIDAY...RIDGING WILL STRONGLY BUILD IN AT 500 AND 700 MB...ALONG WITH A SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE FROM THE WEST. THIS SHOULD HELP TO SCOUR OUT LINGERING CLOUDINESS AND ALLOW FOR EXCELLENT RADIATIONAL COOLING. AIRMASS COMING INTO PLACE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR LOW TEMPERATURES IN THE 40S AND 50S ACROSS THE UPPER PLAINS LAST NIGHT...SO WILL BE WATCHFUL FOR A COOL NIGHT. SHADED COOLER THAN MAV GUIDANCE AS IT DOESNT CLEAR THINGS OUT AS QUICKLY...AND WOULD NOT BE TERRIBLY SURPRISED TO SEE IT COOLER STILL IN THE BEST RADIATIONAL COOLING AREAS. SATURDAY WILL BRING A SEASONABLE DAY. 850 MB TEMPERATURES IN THE +11 TO +13 RANGE WILL ALLOW FOR HIGHS IN THE MID 70S ALONG WITH SOME SCATTERED AFTERNOON CUMULUS DEVELOPMENT FOR A PARTLY CLOUDY DAY. COOL MOS NUMBERS LOOKED FAIRLY REASONABLE ON SATURDAY. EXTENDED FORECAST LARGELY GOVERNED BY RESURGENCE OF SUBTROPICAL RIDGE ACROSS SOUTHERN TIER OF CONUS. INDIANA LOOKS TO BE IN THE NORTHERN PERIPHERY OF THE RIDGE...AND LIKELY TO BE IMPACTED BY SEVERAL SHORTWAVE TROUGH IMPULSES EMBEDDED IN THE FLOW. MOST ROBUST ONE LOOKS TO BE WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY MORNING AS PER GFS. && .IND WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && JOHNSON
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 530 AM EST THU SEP 15 2005 INZ021-028>031-035>049-051>057-060>065-067>072-161100- CARROLL-WARREN-TIPPECANOE-CLINTON-HOWARD-FOUNTAIN-MONTGOMERY- BOONE-TIPTON-HAMILTON-MADISON-DELAWARE-RANDOLPH-VERMILLION-PARKE- PUTNAM-HENDRICKS-MARION-HANCOCK-HENRY-VIGO-CLAY-OWEN-MORGAN- JOHNSON-SHELBY-RUSH-SULLIVAN-GREENE-MONROE-BROWN-BARTHOLOMEW- DECATUR-KNOX-DAVIESS-MARTIN-LAWRENCE-JACKSON-JENNINGS- 530 AM EST THU SEP 15 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL INDIANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE SOUTH OF A TERRE HAUTE TO SEYMOUR LINE BY THIS AFTERNOON AND OVER MOST OF CENTRAL INDIANA TONIGHT. NONE OF THESE ARE EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE. ALSO ISOLATED RAIN AMOUNTS OF UP TO TWO INCHES ARE POSSIBLE TONIGHT ALONG AND SOUTH OF A WINCHESTER TO ROCKVILLE LINE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL PRODUCE A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS MONDAY AS IT MOVES SOUTH ACROSS OUR REGION. THERE IS ALSO A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. && THIS PRODUCT IS NOW AVAILABLE IN GRAPHICAL FORMAT...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION...AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/IND (ALL LOWERCASE) JH
The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 32 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:43 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A barn roof was partially removed by thunderstorm winds.
What was likely a small gustnado swept quickly through a field and a small subdivision of manufactured homes, causing minor damage to crops, two roofs, and outdoor decorations.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Indiana in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Indiana, 2005Warnings in Indiana, September 2005
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: 5475027, 5475026.