Winter Weather in Indiana, December 21 to 22, 2008

Name: Winter Weather in Indiana, December 21 to 22, 2008
Start: 2008-12-21T16:00
End: 2008-12-22T04:00
Location: Indiana

December 21 to 22, 2008 · NWS IWX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

An arctic cold front swept through northern Indiana early on December 21st. Strong west winds of 20 to 35 mph, combined with lake-effect snow showers created reduced visibilities and blowing snow.

The toll

Deaths: 4
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 IWX wrote it up.

An arctic cold front swept through northern Indiana early on December 21st. Strong west winds of 20 to 35 mph, combined with lake-effect snow showers created reduced visibilities and blowing snow. This led to icy road conditions. Four people were killed that evening from a car accident on the Indiana toll road near New Carlisle.

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 Northern Indiana wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 21, 3:57 PM EST, 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 21, 3:57 PM EST, 3 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 21, 10:07 AM EST, 5 hours 53 minutes before

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In the hours before

Local storm report, Dec 21, 11:23 AM EST, 4 hours 37 minutes before

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Special weather statement, Dec 21, 3:48 PM EST, 12 minutes before

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Event by event

1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, St. Joseph

When: December 21, 4:00 PM EST to December 22, 4:00 AM EST
Where: St. Joseph forecast zone
Deaths: 0 direct, 4 indirect
Reported by: Broadcast Media

Icy roads due to lake-effect snow showers and blowing snow led to a fatal car crash around 8:15 pm on December 21st. Four people were killed in the accident. The crash happened when a vehicle traveling eastbound on the Indiana Toll Road lost control of their car and slid into the median. The vehicle then proceeded into the westbound lane of the highway into a semi-truck which killed the 4 people in the car, consisting of 3 males, ages 20, 23 and 28, and a 19 year old female.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Winter Weather, St. Joseph	2008-12-21	20	Male	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Indirect
Winter Weather, St. Joseph	2008-12-21	23	Male	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Indirect
Winter Weather, St. Joseph	2008-12-21	19	Female	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Indirect
Winter Weather, St. Joseph	2008-12-21	28	Male	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Indirect

What these are

Winter Weather: Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Indiana in 2008 Every state in 2008 This day in weather history Warnings in Indiana, December 2008

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 139184.