Hail, Marion
- When
- September 20, 3:43 PM EST to 3:45 PM EST
- Where
- Marion County, 0.89 mi WSW of Lawrence
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
- Coordinates
- 39.826, -86.046
Three-quarter inch hail fell at 38th Street and Shadeland Avenue.
Hail and Damaging Winds in Indiana, September 20, 2008
Thunderstorms briefly produced severe winds and hail, chiefly during the late afternoon hours, in central Indiana.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 4
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 IND wrote it up.
Thunderstorms briefly produced severe winds and hail, chiefly during the late afternoon hours, in central Indiana.
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 Indianapolis, IN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 20, 2:20 PM EST, 1 hour 23 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 20, 2:20 PM EST, 1 hour 23 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 320 PM EDT SAT SEP 20 2008 .FCST DISCUSSION... FCST FOCUS ON LOW POPS AND TEMPS IN THE SHORT TERM. UPPER LOW NOW DRIFTING N ALONG THE MS RIVER WILL CONTINUE TO PROVIDE WEAK LIFT ALOFT/SUPPORT FOR SCT -SHRA/TSRA THIS EVENING INTO SUN. GUIDANCE IS AGAIN IN DECENT AGREEMENT WITH MOS TEMPS IN THE SHORT TERM. WILL LEAN TOWARD A BLEND FOR MAX TEMPS AND LEAN TOWARD THE METMOS FOR LOWS. TONIGHT...WEAK SFC LOW CENTERED NEAR IND WILL ACT TO PRODUCE WEAK SFC CONVERGENCE. DAYTIME HEATING AND CAPES IN THE 500-750J/KG RANGE WILL PRODUCE SCT STORMS THIS EVENING. ISOLATED/SCT STORMS COULD PERSIST INTO THE NIGHT CLOSER TO THE UPPER SYSTEM NEAR THE IL BORDER SO WILL KEEP LOW CHCS THERE. SUN...UPPER SYSTEM WILL DRIFT ACROSS THE AREA WITH ANOTHER ROUND OF ISOLATED SHOWERS OR STORMS POSSIBLE. DAYTIME HIGHS AGAIN SHOULD APPROACH OR JUST EXCEED THE 80 DEGREE MARK WITH SOME INCREASE IN CLD COVERAGE POSSIBLE. MON AND BEYOND...WE FAVOR A DRY FCST CLOSER TO THE ECMWF. GFS ENSEMBLE IS TRENDING TOWARD THE ECMWF WHICH FCSTS HIGHER HTS/RIDGING TO PERSIST FOR A LONGER PERIOD OF TIME AHEAD OF THE NEXT LONGWAVE TROUGH WHICH WILL ALSO BE WEAKENING WITH TIME. LOOK FOR DRY AND WARMER THAN AVG CONDS NEXT WEEK. && .AVIATION... DISCUSSION FOR 18Z TAFS. UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER SOUTHEAST MISSOURI WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE ONLY VERY SLOWLY THROUGH THE TAF PERIOD. CURRENT SATELLITE AND RADAR TRENDS SHOW THAT CLOUDS ARE INCREASING BUT PRECIPITATION NOT REALLY INCREASING OVER CENTRAL INDIANA. THIS IS LIKELY DUE TO QUITE A BIT OF DRY AIR THAT IS PRESENT IN THE LOW LEVELS. WILL MENTION FEW-SCT CU THIS AFTERNOON AT 4-7KFT BUT NOT INCLUDE CB SINCE THIS IS NOT SUPPORTED SO FAR BY WHAT IS GOING ON. CLOUDS WILL DISSIPATE AFTER 00Z WITH THE LOSS OF SUN. BUT THE MID LEVEL DECK SHOULD REMAIN IN THE SCT-BKN STATUS WITH THE UPPER LOW STILL NEARBY. THIS CLOUD DECK IS LIKELY TO INHIBIT FOG FORMATION DESPITE THE LIGHT WINDS AND INCREASED LOW LEVEL MOISTURE TONIGHT. THE BEST SHOT AT IFR WILL BE LAF WHERE IT IS MOST LIKELY THAT SKIES WILL CLEAR. AT HUF AND BMG WILL GO WITH MVFR VSBY AFTER 06Z TIME TONIGHT WITH DISSIPATION OF FOG AT ALL SITES BY 13Z. THEN JUST VFR CONDITIONS FOR THE LAST SEVERAL HOURS. && .IND WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && AVIATION...JOHNSON PUBLIC...CO
Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 20, 2:18 PM EST, 1 hour 25 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 318 PM EDT SAT SEP 20 2008 INZ021-028>031-035>049-051>057-060>065-067>072-211930- 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- 318 PM EDT SAT SEP 20 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL INDIANA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT. NO SEVERE WEATHER IS ANTICIPATED HOWEVER THE STRONGEST STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SMALL HAIL AND HEAVY RAINS. ANY HAIL THREAT WILL END WITH SUNSET THIS EVENING. BE AWARE FOR DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING WITH ANY STORMS INTO TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE SUNDAY. NO SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED BUT ANY STORM WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. .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) CO
The radar
The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 24 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:40 UTC.
Event by event
2 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm Wind, Putnam
- When
- September 20, 4:07 PM EST
- Where
- Putnam County, 1.38 mi S of Roachdale
- Measured
- 58 kt (67 mph) measured gust
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 39.830, -86.800
A couple of trees were blown down by thunderstorm winds.
Thunderstorm Wind, Hamilton
- When
- September 20, 4:30 PM EST
- Where
- Hamilton County, 5.78 mi ESE of Fishers
- Measured
- 56 kt (64 mph) estimated gust
- Reported by
- Department of Highways
- Coordinates
- 39.939, -85.919
A tree was blown down by thunderstorm winds near the intersection of Olio Road and 104th Street just outside northeast Indianapolis in the Fishers area.
Hail, Johnson
- When
- September 20, 4:35 PM EST
- Where
- Johnson County, Trafalgar
- Measured
- 0.88 in hail
- Reported by
- Emergency Manager
- Coordinates
- 39.420, -86.150
An emergency manager reported nickel size hail falling for 20 minutes.
What these are
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
More
Every storm in Indiana in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Indiana, September 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 137037, 137038, 137039, 137040.