Precipitation was above normal for the first time in all of central and southern Indiana since July. Towards the end of December, river flooding developed for the first time in more than five months.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
Precipitation was above normal for the first time in all of central and southern Indiana since July. Towards the end of December, river flooding developed for the first time in more than five months. Northern Indiana received significant snow and ice on the 18th and 19th. Rainfall returned on the 23rd as freezing rain. Rainfall of 1 to 3 inches fell on the 23rd and 24th in much of central and southern Indiana. This caused rivers to rise to bankfull levels in areas south of I-70. Precipitation in northern Indiana was once again a winter mix and did not have a large effect on streams. Near record temperatures later on the 26th and 27th ended the ice problems, but contributed to the developing river flooding by allowing additional precipitation to fall as rain. Rainfall generally ranged from 1/2 to 2 inches. This resulted in widespread lowland flooding in western and southern Indiana. No snow remained on the ground at the end of the month.
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 25, 6:07 PM EST, 1 hour 53 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 607 PM EST THU DEC 25 2008 .AVIATION...DISCUSSION FOR 00Z TAFS. VFR CONDS WILL PERSIST UNTIL THE 09Z TO 12Z TIME FRAME WHEN STRONG LOW LEVEL LIFT WILL LEAD TO MVFR STRATUS DEVELOPMENT AND PERHAPS A BRIEF PERIOD OF FZRA. ANY FZRA WOULD BE LIGHT AND BRIEF AS STRONG WAA ALOFT WOULD REACH THE SFC AFTER 15Z FRI PUSHING SFC AIR TEMPS ABOVE FREEZING. HOWEVER...THE MAIN IMPACT OF THE WX ON TAFS WILL BE THE DEVELOPMENT OF IFR CIGS WHICH IS LIKELY TO OCCUR BY MID TO LATE MORNING. THERE ARE STRONG SIGNALS THAT CIGS MAY ALSO FALL INTO THE LIFR CATEGORY BETWEEN 20Z AND 23Z FRI AS STRONG MOISTURE ADVECTION AND LOW LEVEL LIFT PERSIST THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE AREA. ANOTHER ISSUE MAY BE LLWS TOWARD 12Z FRI AS WINDS AT 2KFT ARE FCST TO BE 200 DEGREES AT 40KTS WHILE SFC WINDS MAY REMAIN AT 120-140 DEGREES AT 10KTS WITH NO GUSTS. WE WILL WATCH THIS SCENARIO AND WILL INCLUDE THIS IN THE TAF AT 06Z. && .PREV DISCUSSION... VERY UNSETTLED UNSEASONABLE WEATHER IN STORE FOR CNTRL INDIANA THE THIS WEEKEND. ITS IMPACT ALONG WITH A BRIEF PRECIP TYPE ISSUE OVERNGT AND FRIDAY MRNG WL BE THE MAIN FOCUS OF THIS FCST. STG SFC HIGH PRES WAS CENTERED ACRS NERN INDIANA EARLY THIS AFTERNOON...MEANWHILE LOW PRES WAS BEGINNING TO ORGANIZE ACRS THE WRN CONUS AND THE ROCKIES. ALOFT...FAST ZONAL FLOW WAS OCCURRING ACRS THE OH AND TN VLYS AND GT LKS AHEAD OF A SHARP TROF ACRS THE WRN CONUS. FINALLY...SATELLITE AND SFC OBS WERE INDICATING A THICK CI SHIELD ACRS THE PLAINS AND MSP VLY. MODELS AND MOS DIFFERING ON TEMPS TNGT...AND THE COOLER NAM WAS VERIFYING MUCH BETTER WITH THE SHALLOW COLD AIRMASS IN PLACE...SO WL FAVOR THE NAM TNGT IN THAT REGARD AND USE THE NAM SOUNDINGS TO FCST PRECIP TYPE AS ISENTROPIC LIFT ON THE 300K SFC REALLY GETS GOING LATE TNGT. HOWEVER...MODELS ARE A BIT SLOWER NOW WITH QPF...AND SOUNDINGS AND PRES CONDENSATION DEFICITS FAVOR HOLDING OFF ON THE PRECIP UNTIL AFT 06Z AND LOWERING POPS IN THE E INTO THE SLGT CHC CAT. AT ANY RATE...NAM SOUNDINGS FAVOR FREEZING RAIN OR RAIN N OF A LINE FM RUSHVILLE TO IND TO CRAWFORDSVILLE THROUGH 12Z AND MAYBE AN HOUR OR TWO AFTER AT THE MOST. SHOULD BE ALL RAIN S OF THAT LINE AS TEMPERATURES RISE ALL NGT. DONT SEE ANY SLEET POTENTIAL AS WARM LYR AROUND 850 MB REACHES NEAR 10 DEGREES CELSIUS. WL CONTINUE TP HOLD OFF ON AN ADVISORY AS SOUNDINGS WOULD FAVOR ONLY LGT PRECIP AT THE ONNSET...AND BY THE TIME THE COLUMN SATURATES...SFC TEMPS CLIMB TO ABV FREEZING. ON FRI...STG SW SURGE TO PUSH TEMPS INTO THE 60S XCP FAR NERN SECTIONS OF THE FA. ALSO...PRECIP H20 VALUES GO ABV 1 INCH WHICH IS OVER TWO TIMES THE NORMAL NUMBER FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. STG LOW LVL SHEAR ON THE ORDER OF 40 KTS ALONG WITH SMALL ELEVEATED CAPE AND CONTINUED STG ISENTROPIC LIFT EXPECTED TO TRIGGER TRWS SOME WITH HEAVY RN ESPECIALLY ON SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NGT AS A CD FNT CLOSES IN FM THE W. SO...WL KEEP RATHER HIGH POPS GOING THROUGH SATURDAY NGT. WL HAVE TO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR FLOODING SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NGT AS A RESULT AND IN FACT ENTIRE CWA IS OUTLOOKED IN HPC EXCESSIVE RAINFALL. WL ALSO HAVE TO BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR SVR WEATHER ESPECIALLY SW WHERE WE ARE IN DAY3 OUTLOOK. FINALLY...REMOVED THE SN MENTION OVERNGT SATURDAY AS SOUNDINGS LOOK WAY TOO WARM NOW. AGAIN...FAVOR COOLER NAM TNGT AS IT HAS BEEN VERIFYING BETTER IN THIS SHALLOW COLD AIRMASS. BY TOMORROW...NAM AND GFS MOS AGREE VERY WELL AND APPEAR TO HAVE THE STG WARM SURGE WELL UNDER CONTROL. WL FOLLOW THE MOSRE TRUSTY ECMWF IN THE EXTENDED WHICH IS A MUCH NEEDED DRY FCST AND SHOULD ALLOW THE RIVERS SOME TIME TO RECEED. && .IND WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && AVIATION...CO PUBLIC...MIKE
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 646 PM EST THU DEC 25 2008 INZ021-028>031-035>042-047>049-270000- CARROLL-WARREN-TIPPECANOE-CLINTON-HOWARD-FOUNTAIN-MONTGOMERY- BOONE-TIPTON-HAMILTON-MADISON-DELAWARE-RANDOLPH-MARION-HANCOCK- HENRY- 646 PM EST THU DEC 25 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL INDIANA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. LOWLAND FLOODING IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP TONIGHT ALONG PORTIONS OF THE WHITE...EAST FORK OF THE WHITE...WABASH...AND MUSCATATUCK RIVERS. VERY LIGHT FREEZING RAIN IS POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT AND THROUGH MID MORNING ON FRIDAY. MOTORISTS SHOULD BE ALERT TO SLICK SPOTS ON THE ROADWAYS AND SLOW DOWN. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. AREAS OF FOG FRIDAY MORNING COULD LIMIT THE VISIBILITY TO A MILE OR LESS. THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IS POSSIBLE LATE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. THE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE AT THIS TIME. REMEMBER THAT ALL THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...HOWEVER. HEAVY AMOUNTS OF RAINFALL ARE ALSO POSSIBLE ON SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT...WHICH MAY LEAD TO ADDITIONAL FLOODING PROBLEMS. STRONG WINDS FROM THE SOUTH UP TO 30 MPH ARE POSSIBLE ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON. LOWLAND FLOODING WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TUESDAY ALONG PORTIONS OF THE WHITE...EAST FORK OF THE WHITE...WABASH...AND MUSCATATUCK RIVERS THROUGH NEXT TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. && MORE INFORMATION...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND...AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/IND (ALL LOWERCASE) INZ043>046-051>057-060>065-067>072-270000- VERMILLION-PARKE-PUTNAM-HENDRICKS-VIGO-CLAY-OWEN-MORGAN-JOHNSON- SHELBY-RUSH-SULLIVAN-GREENE-MONROE-BROWN-BARTHOLOMEW-DECATUR-KNOX- DAVIESS-MARTIN-LAWRENCE-JACKSON-JENNINGS- 646 PM EST THU DEC 25 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL INDIANA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. LOWLAND FLOODING IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP TODAY ALONG PORTIONS OF THE WHITE...EAST FORK OF THE WHITE...WABASH...AND MUSCATATUCK RIVERS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IS POSSIBLE LATE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS SOUTHWEST INDIANA ON SATURDAY. REMEMBER THAT ALL THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. HEAVY AMOUNTS OF RAINFALL ARE ALSO POSSIBLE ON SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT...WHICH MAY LEAD TO ADDITIONAL FLOODING PROBLEMS. STRONG WINDS FROM THE SOUTH AT UP TO 30 MPH ARE POSSIBLE ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE ON SATURDAY. && MORE INFORMATION...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND...AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/IND (ALL LOWERCASE)
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Rainfall and warm temperatures that occurred on and off during the second half of December led to flooding of lowlands on the East Fork White River during late December, affecting Jackson County at and near Rockford/Seymour.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Indiana in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Indiana, December 2008
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: 147908.