Frequent rainfall caused lowland flooding to return to central Indiana. This delayed the growth of some fields, while some that were already planted sustained damage.
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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.
Frequent rainfall caused lowland flooding to return to central Indiana. This delayed the growth of some fields, while some that were already planted sustained damage.
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 May 16, 11:30 PM EST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 1230 AM EDT SAT MAY 17 2008 .AVIATION...DISCUSSION FOR 170600Z TAF ISSUANCE. XPCTG SOME LYRD CLD COVER ABV 050 OVERNIGHT WITH NO VSBY RESTRICTIONS. OTRW...MODEL WND PROGS SUGGEST SOME SFC WND GUSTS 20-25KTS PSBL FM 250-280 HEADINGS BY THE MID/LT MORN HRS. APPEARS THERE WL BE ENOUGH LO LVL INSTABILITY/MOISTURE FOR SOME DIURNAL CLD DVLPMT BASED ARND 030 AFT ABOUT 171500Z...HOWEVER PROGGED CONVECTIVE TEMPS SUGGEST LTL THREAT FOR SHWR ACTVTY WITH INCOMING SFC TROF TIL AFT 171800Z. && .DISCUSSION...SAT IMAGERY SHOWS MOCLR SKIES ACRS CENTRAL INDIANA AND THE SFC ANALYSIS REVEALS A RIDGE OF HIGH PRES FM MO TO THE GRT LKS BUILDING ACRS INDIANA. IN THE UPPER FLOW...A PERSISTENT RIDGE REMAINS OVR THE WEST COAST...WHILE LOW PRES IS FOUND NORTH OF THE GRT LKS...PROVIDING A NW FLOW WITH OCCASIONAL S/W BEING EJECTED FROM THE LOW PRES SYS. MAIN FORECAST CHALLENGE TDY WL BE POPS. MODELS ARE IN PRETTY GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE OVERALL PATTERN...BUT THE GFS APPEARS A BIT WETTER THAN THE NAM. WL USE A BLEND. SFC RIDGE ACRS THE AREA TONIGHT SHUD PROVIDE A DRY NIGHT WITH INCREASING CLOUDS EXPECTED AS A WEAK S/W APPROACHES FROM THE NW. TIME SECTIONS AND FORECAST SOUNDINGS REMAIN RATHER DRY. 300K GFS ISENTROPIC SFC SHOWS WEEK ISENTROPIC VV STARTING OVERNIGHT. GIVEN THE WAA THAT CONTINUES AS A H8 THERMAL RIDGE SETTLES OVR THE AREA WITH H8 TEMPS TO NEAR 8C-9C A BLEND OF THE MAVMOS AND METMOS SHUD WORK WELL. THE WEAK UPPER DISTURBANCE PUSHES ACRS INDIANA ON SAT. 300K GFS ISENTROPIC SFC SHOWS A QUICK SHOT OF LIFT ALONG WITH MIXING RATIOS NEAR 5 G/KG. LWR LVL Q-VECTORS ALSO SHOW GOOD CONVERGENCE ACRS THE AREA. HOWEVER...SINCE THE SFC FLOW NEVER REALLY BECOMES SOUTHERLY AND DEW POINT TEMPS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN THE 40S...FEEL THAT MOISTURE IS SUSPECT. FURTHERMORE TIME SECTIONS ACRS THE AREA DO NOT APPEAR TO CLOSE TO HAVING A SATURATED COLUMN. BEST DYNAMICS WITH THIS SYS WL BE ACRS THE NE PART OF THE FA. HENCE WL STICK CLOSE TO THE MAVMOS POPS IN THE MIE AREA AND USE A GRADIENT POP TRENDING LOWER AS WE PROGRESS SOUTHWEST ACRS THE FA. GIVEN THE EXPECTED H8 TEMPS MAVMOS TEMPS SEEM ON THE MARK. A STRONGER UPPER TROUGH APPEARS TO PUSH ACRS THE RGN ON SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY AS A MORE QUICK MOVING S/W PUSHES THROUGH IN THE NW FLOW. TIME SECTIONS ACRS THE AREA SHOW MUCH DEEPER MOISTURE AVAILABLE AND FORECAST SOUNDINGS HAVE BETTER SATURATION. STILL WITHOUT AN INFLUX OF MOISTURE...ONLY LIGHT PCPN AMOUNTS WL BE EXPECTED. WL USE A BLEND OF THE MAVMOS AND METMOS FOR NOW. WL CONTINUE THE BLEND OF THE MAVMOS AND MEXMOS ON SAT NIGHT LOWS AND SUNDAY/S HIGHS. AS FOR THE EXTENDED...THERE SEEMS TO BE TWO PARTS TO THE FORECAST PATTERN. THE NW UPPER FLOW CONTINUES ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY AS THE UPPER RIDGE ACRS THE WESTERN PART OF THE US CONTINUES TO PROVIDE MORE OF THE SAME TYPE OF WX...COOL WITH OCCASIONAL S/WS PROVIDING CHCS FOR LGT RAIN FALL. BY LATE WED THE UPPER RIDGE IS SHOWING SIGNS OF BUILDING EAST AND THIS WL EVENTUALLY CHANGE OUR SFC FLOW TO A MORE SOUTHERLY PATTERN TOWARD THE END OF THE WORK WEEK. THIS WL LEAD TO WARMER CONDITIONS LATE NEXT WEEK ALONG WITH BETTER CHCS FOR THUNDER. && .IND WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && AVIATION...JAS PUBLIC...PUMA
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 547 PM EDT FRI MAY 16 2008 INZ021-028>031-035>042-045>049-052-054>057-062>065-072-172200- CARROLL-WARREN-TIPPECANOE-CLINTON-HOWARD-FOUNTAIN-MONTGOMERY- BOONE-TIPTON-HAMILTON-MADISON-DELAWARE-RANDOLPH-PUTNAM-HENDRICKS- MARION-HANCOCK-HENRY-CLAY-MORGAN-JOHNSON-SHELBY-RUSH-MONROE-BROWN- BARTHOLOMEW-DECATUR-JENNINGS- 547 PM EDT FRI MAY 16 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL INDIANA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .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) INZ043-044-051-053-060-061-067>071-172200- VERMILLION-PARKE-VIGO-OWEN-SULLIVAN-GREENE-KNOX-DAVIESS-MARTIN- LAWRENCE-JACKSON- 547 PM EDT FRI MAY 16 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL INDIANA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. LOWLAND FLOODING AND NEAR BANKFULL CONDITIONS CONTINUE ALONG THE EAST FORK WHITE RIVER...MUSCATATUCK RIVER...WABASH RIVER AND WHITE RIVER IN WESTERN AND SOUTHERN INDIANA. PLEASE SEE THE LATEST FLOOD STATEMENTS FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. LOWLAND FLOODING WILL PERSIST ALONG PORTIONS OF AREA RIVERS. LOWLAND FLOODING WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY. .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) JOHNSON
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flooding occurred along the East Fork White River in Lawrence County, including near Rivervale, due to heavy rain.
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, May 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: 98743.