Record to near record flooding occurred during early January in many along the Tippecanoe River. One of the locations that was severely impacted was downstream of Oakdale Dam in Carroll County.
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.
Record to near record flooding occurred during early January in many along the Tippecanoe River. One of the locations that was severely impacted was downstream of Oakdale Dam in Carroll County. Hundreds of homes were either damaged or destroyed. Millions of dollars of damage occurred due to the flooding. Heavy summer time rains falling on saturated partially frozen winter time soils led to record flooding along the Tippecanoe and other rivers and streams in northern Indiana. All of this occurred from essentially one precipitation event during January. Significant snow of more than 6 inches fell in northern Indiana on the 1st and 2nd. Record January warmth melted all of this snow overnight on the 6th. Thunderstorms late on the 7th and early on the 8th dropped 3 to over 7 inches of rain in less than 12 hours on|portions of north central Indiana. Serious local flooding resulted|almost immediately as the heavy rain fell. The first wave of this heavy rain was concentrated just north and outside of the Indianapolis HSA. Because White County was one of the locations where the greatest rain fell, record flooding occurred along the Tippecanoe River downstream of Oakdale Dam by 8 am on the 8th. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated the return period of this flood at their site on the Tippecanoe downstream of Oakdale Dam may have been greater than a 500 year flood. NIPSCO’s figures indicated the peak flow of over 30,000 cfs from Oakdale Dam approached their calculated 100 year flow. Numerous evacuations took place on and along the Tippecanoe River downstream of Oakdale Dam. Record flooding along the Tippecanoe River quickly dissipated as the flood approached the Wabash River. Significant flooding occurred along the Wabash River from Lafayette to Terre Haute and lowland flooding from south of Terre Haute to the Ohio River. During the day on the 8th and early of the 9th another band of heavy rain of 1 to over 4 inches fell in the Indianapolis HSA. This rain fell in the southern and eastern portions of the state and produced significant flooding in the upper portions of the White and East Fork White Basins. This was the first winter season flood for rivers and streams in these watersheds. Rainfall of one half inch to one and a half inches fell in the remainder of central Indiana. Lowland flooding occurred along the White River in southwest Indiana while the White River in the Indianapolis metropolitan area only reached bankfull levels.
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 Jan 8, 12:00 AM EST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 1200 AM EST TUE JAN 8 2008 .AVIATION... DISCUSSION FOR 06Z TAFS. LOOKS LIKE MOST OF THE RW AND TRW ACTIVITY WL REMAIN JUST N OF LAF OVERNGT. SO...WL TAKE PRECIP OUT OF THE TAFS UNTIL THIS AFTERNOON WHEN REDEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED EXPECTED AHEAD OF AN APRCHG CD FNT THAT WL GATHER SPEED QUICKLY AS AN UPR TROF APPROACHES FM THE W. THE FNT LOOKS LIKE IT WL MOV ACRS THE TERMINALS DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVE. STG SFC PRES GRADIENT SHOULD KEEP WINDS GUSTING TO AT LEAST 25 MPH THROUGH 06Z WED. CLOUD TRENDS FAVOR VFR CIGS FOR THE MOST PART WITH MVFR PSBL THIS AFTERNOON. ALSO...ASIDE FM ANY HEAVY TRW...VSBYS SHOULD MOSTLY STAY MVFR IN THE LIGHTER SHOWERS OR VFR AWAY FM SHOWERS. && .DISCUSSION...UPPR PATTERN TO REMAIN PROGRESSIVE OVR THE NEXT FEW DAYS AS LONG WV TROF CURRENTLY OVR THE ROCKIES PUSHES EWD INTO THE OH VLY/GRTLKS BY TUES NIGHT. ASSOCIATED CDFNT XPCTD TO MOV THRU THE LOCAL AREA LT TUES AFT INTO TUES EVEN. MODELS IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE MAIN DETAILS. FCST FOCUS CENTERS ON POPS. NOT SEEING TOO MUCH IN THE WAY OF AN ORGANIZED PCPN THREAT TONIGHT INTO TOMORROW OTHER THAN A STG 50-65KT LLJ ACRS THE AREA. SAT SUGGESTS THERE MAY AN IMPULSE NR THE NE OK/SW MO AREA WHICH MAY MOVE IN LTR TONIGHT. APPEARS THE MAIN LIFT WL BE APPROACHING THE NW ZONES AFT MIDNIGHT. WL GO WITH HI POPS IN THE NW LT TONIGHT...TAPERING TO CHC POPS SE. SIG FORCING WITH SYS LOOKS TO SLOWLY SHFT EWD ACRS IL DURG THE DAY TUES...WITH THE BULK OF THE FORCING MOVG THRU THE CWA IN THE 082000Z-090300Z TIME FRAME...SO MOST OF THE PCPN XPCTD AT THAT TIME. MODELS SUGGEST SOME SFC BASED INSTABILITY...ALONG WITH A GOOD 850MB-500MB JET CROSSOVER SUGGESTING QUITE A BIT OF SHEAR WL BE PRESENT FOR PSBL SVR FOR ANY CONVECTION THAT MAY DVLP. SOME CONCERN FOR HVY RAIN WITH PROGGED H20 WATERS WELL ABV NORMAL...BUT THINK SPEED/SHORT DURATION OF STG LIFT OF SYS WL PREVENT EXCESSIVE RAINFALL ACCUMUATIONS. SYS PASSES OFF TO THE E QUICKLY WITH FROPA...SO PCPN SHOULD TAPER OFF RATHER RAPIDLY DURG THE EVEN. MODELS HINT AT A WK DEFORMATION ZONE WHICH MAY CAUSE SOME LT PCPN LTR IN THE NIGHT. PARTIAL THICKNESSES SUGGEST SOME LT SNOW PSBL NR THE TAIL END OF THE EVENT OVR THE NRN ZONES...BUT XPTG LTL IN THE WAY OF ACCUMULATIONS. COULD SEE A FEW GRADIENT WND GUSTS NR 40-45KT FOR A COUPLE OF HRS EITHER SIDE OF FROPA WITH SOME ENHANCED MIXING. BASED ON LO LVL THICKNESSES...NGM MOS CONTINUES TO EXHIBIT A COOL BIAS. WL BUMP UP THE GUIDANCE 5-8 DEGS TONIGHT/TUES. MOS TEMPS SHOULD LOOSE THE COOL BIAS AFT FROPA. && .IND WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && AVIATION...MK PUBLIC...JAS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 1022 PM EST MON JAN 7 2008 INZ030-031-037>042-045>049-052>057-060>065-067>072-090115- CLINTON-HOWARD-BOONE-TIPTON-HAMILTON-MADISON-DELAWARE-RANDOLPH- PUTNAM-HENDRICKS-MARION-HANCOCK-HENRY-CLAY-OWEN-MORGAN-JOHNSON- SHELBY-RUSH-SULLIVAN-GREENE-MONROE-BROWN-BARTHOLOMEW-DECATUR-KNOX- DAVIESS-MARTIN-LAWRENCE-JACKSON-JENNINGS- 1022 PM EST MON JAN 7 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL INDIANA. .DAY ONE...OVERNIGHT. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IS POSSIBLE. A FEW STRONG STORMS WITH GUSTY WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN ARE POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY NORTH AND WEST OF INDIANAPOLIS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED ON TUESDAY INTO TUESDAY EVENING. PRESENT INDICATIONS ARE THAT A FEW SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE...WITH DAMAGING WINDS THE MAIN THREAT. THE MOST FAVORED TIME FOR SEVERE WEATHER APPEARS TO BE FROM ABOUT 200 PM EST UNTIL 1000 PM EST. BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL MAY ACCOMPANY THE STORMS AS WELL. IN ADDITION...WIND GUSTS...INDEPENDENT OF ANY THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY...MAY APPROACH 45 MPH TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED OVERNIGHT. SEVERE STORM SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO MONITOR FUTURE WEATHER TRENDS REGARDING THE SEVERE THREAT ON TUESDAY. && MORE INFORMATION...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND...AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/IND (ALL LOWERCASE) INZ021-028-029-035-036-043-044-051-090115- CARROLL-WARREN-TIPPECANOE-FOUNTAIN-MONTGOMERY-VERMILLION-PARKE- VIGO- 1022 PM EST MON JAN 7 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST AND FAR WEST SECTIONS OF CENTRAL INDIANA. .DAY ONE...OVERNIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE. A FEW OF THE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE WITH DAMAGING WINDS THE PRIMARY THREAT. SOME STORMS WILL PRODUCE HEAVY RAINFALL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED ON TUESDAY INTO TUESDAY EVENING. PRESENT INDICATIONS ARE THAT A FEW SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE...WITH DAMAGING WINDS THE MAIN THREAT. THE MOST FAVORED TIME FOR SEVERE WEATHER APPEARS TO BE FROM ABOUT 200 PM EST UNTIL 1000 PM EST. BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL MAY ACCOMPANY THE STORMS AS WELL. IN ADDITION...WIND GUSTS...INDEPENDENT OF ANY THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY...MAY APPROACH 45 MPH TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ORGANIZED SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED OVERNIGHT...THOUGH SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN. SEVERE STORM SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO MONITOR FUTURE WEATHER TRENDS REGARDING THE SEVERE THREAT ON TUESDAY. && MORE INFORMATION...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND...AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/IND (ALL LOWERCASE) CORRECTED SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENTS
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
26 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Record flooding occurred along the Tippecanoe River downstream of Oakdale Dam in Carroll County due to heavy rain and snow melt. At least 330 homes in Carroll County met preliminary qualifications to be considered destroyed.
Flooding occurred along the Wabash River in Tippecanoe County, including near Lafayette, due to heavy rain and snow melt. 30 to 40 homes were damaged by flood waters.
Flooding occurred along the Wabash River in Fountain County, including near Covington, due to heavy rain and snow melt.
Flooding occurred along the Wabash River in Warren County due to heavy rain and snow melt.
Flooding occurred along the Wabash River in Parke County, including near Montezuma, due to heavy rain and snow melt.
Flooding occurred along the Wabash River in Vermillion County due to heavy rain and snow melt.
Flooding occurred along the Mississinewa River in Randolph County, including near Ridgeville, due to heavy rain and snow melt.
Flooding occurred along the Wabash River in Sullivan County due to heavy rain and snow melt.
Flooding occurred along Youngs Creek in Johnson County, including near Amity, due to heavy rain and snow melt.
Flooding occurred along the Wabash River in Vigo County, including near Terre Haute, due to heavy rain and snow melt.
Flooding occurred along the Big Blue River in Rush County, including near Carthage, due to heavy rain and snow melt.
Flooding occurred along the Big Blue River in Rush County, including near Shelbyville, due to heavy rain and snow melt.
Flooding occurred along the Wabash River in Vermillion County, including near Clinton, due to heavy rain and snow melt.
Flooding occurred along the Wabash River in Parke County, including west of Hudunt, due to heavy rain and snow melt.
Flooding occurred along the Sugar Creek in Johnson County, including west of Edinburgh, due to heavy rain and snow melt.
Flooding occurred on the White River in Greene County, including near Elliston, due to heavy rain and snow melt.
Flooding occurred along the White River in Delaware County, including near Muncie, due to heavy rain and snow melt.
Flooding occurred along the White River in Greene County, including near Newberry, due to heavy rain and snow melt.
Flooding occurred along the East Fork White River in Jackson County, including near Rockford and Seymour, due to heavy rain and snow melt.
Flooding occurred along the White River in Madison County, including Anderson, due to heavy rain and snow melt.
Flooding occurred along the White River in Owen County, including near Spencer, due to heavy rain and snow melt.
Flooding occurred along the White River in southern Knox County due to heavy rain and snow melt.
Flooding occurred along the White River in Knox County, including near Edwardsport, due to heavy rain and snow melt.
Flooding occurred along the White River in Daviess County due to heavy rain and snow melt.
Flooding occurred along the Muscatatuck River in Jackson County, including near Wheeler Hollow, due to heavy rain and snow melt.
Flooding occurred on the East Fork White River in Jackson County, including near Sparksville, due to heavy rain and snow melt.
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, January 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: 78406, 77278, 77284, 77285, 77286, 77287, 77567, 77301, 77570, 77294, 77564, 77565, 77288, 77289, 77559, 77342, 77334, 77534, 77573, 77335, 77340, 77546, 77539, 77540, 77569, 77571.