Strong thunderstorms impacted central Indiana on the 1st and 2nd as the remnants of Hurricane Isaac moved into the Ohio Valley. A weak tornado dropped down briefly near 16th Street and the White River just to the northwest of downtown Indianapolis on the evening of the 2nd.
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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.
Strong thunderstorms impacted central Indiana on the 1st and 2nd as the remnants of Hurricane Isaac moved into the Ohio Valley. A weak tornado dropped down briefly near 16th Street and the White River just to the northwest of downtown Indianapolis on the evening of the 2nd. No damage was observed.
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 1, 4:08 PM EST, 1 hour 33 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 508 PM EDT SAT SEP 1 2012 .UPDATE... THE AVIATION SECTION HAS BEEN UPDATED BELOW. && .SYNOPSIS... ISSUED AT 325 PM EDT SAT SEP 1 2012 THE REMAINS OF ISAAC HAVE OFFICIALLY BEEN DECLARED EXTRA TROPICAL BY HPC. THIS SYSTEM WILL DRIFT SLOWLY EAST ACROSS OUR REGION THE NEXT FEW DAYS PRODUCING VERY WET WEATHER LATER TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY. MONDAY WILL STILL BE WET...BUT RAIN AMOUNTS WILL BE LIGHTER. AFTER THE SYSTEM PULLS AWAY FROM THE AREA...WEAK HIGH PRESSURE WILL AFFECT US AROUND TUESDAY. THEN A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH BY LATE WEDNESDAY AS AN UPPER TROUGH DIGS INTO THE UPPER MIDWEST AND GREAT LAKES. DRY WEATHER AND BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES WILL BE THE RULE BY LATE NEXT WEEK. && .NEAR TERM /TONIGHT/... ISSUED AT 325 PM EDT SAT SEP 1 2012 RADAR DEPICTS A BAND OF SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS WESTERN AND SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS AND ANOTHER BAND ACROSS NORTHERN AND EASTERN INDIANA. SCATTERED SHOWERS WILL PROBABLY DEVELOP ELSEWHERE AS SOME HEATING OCCURS THIS EVENING. BUT MODELS INDICATE THERE MAY BE A LULL IN PRECIP ACROSS MUCH OF OUR REGION UNTIL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO OUR WEST MOVE INTO WESTERN INDIANA LATE EVENING OR MIDNIGHT. WILL MENTION SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORM BECOMING BECOMING MUCH MORE NUMEROUS OVER ALL BUT FAR EASTERN SECTIONS LATE TONIGHT. HPC INDICATES RAIN AMOUNTS OVER 1 INCH OVER FAR WESTERN SECTIONS LATER TONIGHT AND WILL MENTION HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE THERE LATER TONIGHT. HAVE TRIMMED HPC PRECIP AMOUNTS FARTHER EAST AS MODELS INDICATE SOMEWHAT OF A DRY SLOT CONTINUING MUCH OF THE NIGHT. TEMPERATURES LAST NIGHT RANGED FROM 70 TO 75 AND I DON'T SEE THEM BEING ANY COOLER LAST NIGHT WITH CLOUDS AND HIGH DEWPOINTS. WILL RAISE MOS TEMPERATURES SLIGHTLY AS A RESULT. && .SHORT TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... ISSUED AT 325 PM EDT SAT SEP 1 2012 MODELS ARE IN PRETTY GOOD AGREEMENT DURING THIS PERIOD AND WILL USE A BLEND. MAIN FORECAST CHALLENGE WILL BE RAIN AMOUNTS AND TIMING. THE REMAINS OF ISSAC WILL PRODUCE A VERY WET DAY ACROSS OUR REGION SUNDAY AS IT MOVES SLOWLY EAST INTO OUR REGION. HPC GIVES 6 HOURLY QPF LOCALLY IN EXCESS OF ONE HALF INCH AND WILL RAISE POPS TO 100 PERCENT MOST AREAS...BUT 90 PERCENT FAR NORTH. WILL CONTINUE MENTION OF LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. BUT RAIN AMOUNTS ARE NOT AS WET AS PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT AND WITH 6 HOURLY FLASH FLOOD GUIDANCE OF 4 INCHES AND 24 HOUR FLASH FOOD GUIDANCE OF 5 TO 6 INCHES. WILL ONLY CONTINUE MENTION OF HEAVY RAIN AND MINOR FLOODING IN SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT. I DO NOT PLAN ON ISSUING ANY FLOOD HEADLINES AT THIS TIME. MODELS MOVE THE REMAINS OF ISSAC ACROSS THE OHIO VALLEY SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY. DUE TO ITS SLOW MOVEMENT WILL RAISE POPS SLIGHTLY SUNDAY NIGHT AND ACROSS OUR EAST HALF MONDAY. AFTER MONDAY...I HAVE LOW CONFIDENCE THERE WILL BE MUCH OF ANY RAIN AS WEAK HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN. HOWEVER DUE TO THE SLOW MOVEMENT WILL GO WITH ALL BLEND POPS MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY...WHICH WILL BE MOSTLY AROUND 20 PERCENT. CONCERNING TEMPERATURES....WILL CUT HIGHS A DEGREE OR TWO SUNDAY DUE TO CLOUDS AND PRECIP. OTHERWISE...WENT CLOSE TO A MOS BLEND ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY AS THERE WILL BE A LITTLE SUNSHINE POSSIBLE MONDAY AND MORE TUESDAY. WILL KEEP LOW TEMPERATURES A LITTLE ABOVE MOS NUMBERS SUNDAY NIGHT AND ACROSS OUR EAST MONDAY NIGHT AS THERE SHOULD BE ENOUGH CLOUDS TO HOLD TEMPERATURES UP. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY/... ISSUED AT 325 PM EDT SAT SEP 1 2012 MODELS HAVE COME BACK INTO BETTER AGREEMENT FOR MOST FEATURES IN THE LONG TERM...SO ALLBLEND INITIALIZATION LOOKS GOOD FOR THE MOST PART. A COLD FRONT WILL BRING CHANCES FOR RAIN WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT. SOME MODEL RUNS HAVE BEEN KEEPING CHANCES FOR RAIN FOR THURSDAY AS WELL...BUT THE OVERALL TREND IS FOR DRY THEN. THUS HAVE CONTINUED DRY FORECAST FOR THURSDAY. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD IN FOR FRIDAY AND SATURDAY PROVIDING DRY CONDITIONS THEN AS WELL. TEMPERATURES WILL BE SEASONABLE EARLY THEN FALL TO BELOW AVERAGE AS COOLER AIR COMES IN BEHIND THE FRONT FOR THE END OF THE WEEK. && .AVIATION /DISCUSSION FOR 012100Z TAF UPDATE/... ISSUED AT 421 PM EDT SAT SEP 1 2012 INCREASED CEILINGS TO MOSTLY VFR OVER SHORT TERM IN WAKE OF RAIN NOW MOVING NORTHEAST OF AREA. NO CHANGES OTHERWISE. PREVIOUS DISCUSSION FOLLOWS. GENERALLY DETERIORATING CONDITIONS THROUGH THE PERIOD...WITH PREDOMINANT IFR EXPECTED BY SUNDAY MORNING. CONFIDENCE IS BELOW AVERAGE IN REGARDS TO TIMING OF IFR AS WELL AS TIMING OF WIDESPREAD RAIN. MAIN AREA OF LIFT HAS PUSHED PAST THE TAF SITES SO AM ONLY EXPECTING SCATTERED SHOWERS FOR THIS AFTERNOON INTO EARLY EVENING. THERE ALSO COULD BE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IF ENOUGH BREAKS FORM IN THE CLOUDS...BUT COVERAGE AND UNCERTAINTY TOO HIGH TO MENTION IN TAFS. EXPECT ADDITIONAL RAIN TO DEVELOP AS THE CENTER OF LOW PRESSURE MOVES CLOSER TO THE AREA LATE TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY. TIMING IS STILL UNCERTAIN...BUT OVERALL TREND SHOULD STILL BE FOR MORE RAIN AS TIME PASSES LATER TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY. AS FOR CEILINGS...HIGH VARIABILITY AT THE MOMENT RANGING FROM VFR TO IFR. THERE WILL BE SOME VARIABILITY THROUGH THE AFTERNOON INTO EVENING BUT FEEL THAT MVFR WILL BE THE PREDOMINANT CATEGORY...SO WILL PUT THAT IN TAFS. OVERNIGHT TREND SHOULD BE FOR CLOUDS TO LOWER. && .IND WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && SYNOPSIS...JH NEAR TERM...JH SHORT TERM...JH LONG TERM....50 AVIATION...JK
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 538 PM EDT SAT SEP 1 2012 INZ021-028>031-035>049-051>057-060>065-067>072-022145- 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- 538 PM EDT SAT SEP 1 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL INDIANA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. OUTLOOK: PERIODIC RAIN AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST TONIGHT. HAZARDS: ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAINFALL ...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND BRIEF GUSTY WINDS. TIMING: TONIGHT. DISCUSSION: THE REMAINS OF ISAAC HAVE OFFICIALLY BEEN DECLARED EXTRA TROPICAL BY HPC. THIS SYSTEM WILL DRIFT SLOWLY EAST ACROSS OUR REGION THE NEXT FEW DAYS PRODUCING VERY WET WEATHER LATER TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. OUTLOOK: MORE WIDESPREAD RAIN WILL DEVELOP ACROSS CENTRAL INDIANA ON SUNDAY. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE SUNDAY THROUGH EARLY TUESDAY...AND THEN ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORM CHANCES ARE POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT. NO SEVERE WEATHER IS ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME...HOWEVER ANY THUNDERSTORMS CAN CONTAIN DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. DISCUSSION: A SYSTEM WILL DRIFT SLOWLY EAST ACROSS OUR REGION THE NEXT FEW DAYS PRODUCING VERY WET WEATHER THROUGH SUNDAY. MONDAY WILL STILL BE WET...BUT RAIN AMOUNTS WILL BE LIGHTER. AFTER THE SYSTEM PULLS AWAY FROM THE AREA...WEAK HIGH PRESSURE WILL AFFECT US AROUND TUESDAY. THEN A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH BY LATE WEDNESDAY AS AN UPPER TROUGH DIGS INTO THE UPPER MIDWEST AND GREAT LAKES. DRY WEATHER AND BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES WILL BE THE RULE BY LATE NEXT WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO CALL IN WITH PRECIPITATION AMOUNT REPORTS OR OTHERWISE TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY. && MORE INFORMATION...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND...AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/IND (ALL LOWERCASE) SMF
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 1250 PM EDT SAT SEP 1 2012 INZ021-030-031-038-011730- CARROLL-CLINTON-HOWARD-TIPTON- 1250 PM EDT SAT SEP 1 2012 ...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN... AT 1245 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM MONTICELLO TO 10 MILES EAST OF FRANKFORT...AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... KEMPTON... CAMDEN... BURLINGTON... RUSSIAVILLE... SHARPSVILLE... INDIAN HEIGHTS... KOKOMO... VISIBILITIES MAY BE REDUCED TO LESS THAN HALF A MILE IN THE HEAVIEST SHOWERS. RAINFALL MAY EXCEED 1 INCH IN AN HOUR...WHICH COULD LEAD TO MINOR FLOODING. 50
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 334 PM EDT SAT SEP 1 2012 INZ021-028>031-035>049-051>057-060>065-067>072-020345- 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- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...LAFAYETTE...FRANKFORT...KOKOMO... CRAWFORDSVILLE...ANDERSON...MUNCIE...INDIANAPOLIS...TERRE HAUTE... SHELBYVILLE...BLOOMINGTON...COLUMBUS...VINCENNES...BEDFORD... SEYMOUR 334 PM EDT SAT SEP 1 2012 ...MINOR FLOODING POSSIBLE...MAINLY ACROSS WEST CENTRAL INDIANA... MINOR FLOODING MAY DEVELOP ACROSS PORTIONS OF CENTRAL INDIANA LATE TONIGHT AND SUNDAY. THIS WILL BE MAINLY ACROSS WESTERN SECTIONS. HOWEVER MINOR FLOODING IS POSSIBLE ELSEWHERE TOO. WHILE RESERVOIRS ARE STILL LOW BECAUSE OF THE DROUGHT...HEAVY RAINFALL ON HARD DRY GROUND IS ESPECIALLY PRONE TO RUNOFF. THIS RUNOFF COULD CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS AND WATERWAYS...ROADS...AND NUISANCE FLOODING OF BASEMENTS. LATEST MODEL RUNS INDICATE THE REMAINS OF ISAAC WILL TRACK TOWARD INDIANA ON SUNDAY AND PASS ACROSS SOUTHERN INDIANA ON MONDAY. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN WILL DEVELOP ACROSS WESTERN INDIANA LATER TONIGHT AND ALL AREAS MAY SEE PERIODS OF HEAVY RAINFALL SUNDAY AND EARLY SUNDAY NIGHT. FLOODING IS A POSSIBILITY...NOT A CERTAINTY. FLOOD STATEMENTS AND/OR FLOOD WARNINGS WILL BE ISSUED AS MORE INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE. THE FORECAST WILL BE UPDATED AS THE EVENT PROGRESSES SO CHECK THE LATEST FORECAST INFORMATION AT WEATHER.GOV/IND. FOR DETAILED RIVER FLOOD INFORMATION GO TO WEATHER.GOV/IND ON THE WEB. FROM THE BLUE MENU BAR ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE PAGE...CLICK ON RIVERS AND LAKES. JH
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 552 PM EDT SAT SEP 1 2012 INZ021-028>031-035>049-051>057-060>065-067>072-020000- 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- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...LAFAYETTE...FRANKFORT...KOKOMO... CRAWFORDSVILLE...ANDERSON...MUNCIE...INDIANAPOLIS...TERRE HAUTE... SHELBYVILLE...BLOOMINGTON...COLUMBUS...VINCENNES...BEDFORD... SEYMOUR 552 PM EDT SAT SEP 1 2012 ...PERIODIC RAIN TONIGHT WILL DEVELOP INTO MORE WIDEPSREAD RAIN BY SUNDAY WITH THE CONTINUED THREAT OF ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL... THIS SYSTEM WILL DRIFT SLOWLY EAST ACROSS OUR REGION THE NEXT FEW DAYS PRODUCING VERY WET WEATHER LATER TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY. VERY HEAVY RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE AT TIMES TONIGHT...ALONG WITH THE THREAT OF ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. MORE WIDESPREAD RAIN WILL DEVELOP ACROSS CENTRAL INDIANA ON SUNDAY. NO SEVERE WEATHER IS ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME...HOWEVER ANY OF THE THUNDERSTORM THAT DO DEVELOP MAY CONTAIN DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. SMF
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
628 PM EDT SAT SEP 1 2012
INZ039-047-012315-
HAMILTON-MARION-
628 PM EDT SAT SEP 1 2012
...STRONG THUNDERSTORM ADVISORY FOR SOUTHEASTERN HAMILTON AND
NORTHEASTERN MARION COUNTIES UNTIL 715 PM EDT...
AT 622 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A
THUNDERSTORM NEAR INDIANAPOLIS...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS
STORM...LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...
LAWRENCE...
CARMEL...
FISHERS...
NOBLESVILLE...
NORTH CROWS NEST...
BROAD RIPPLE...
MERIDIAN HILLS...
WILLIAMS CREEK...
CASTLETON...
GEIST RESERVOIR...
THIS STORM MAY INTENSIFY...SO BE CERTAIN TO MONITOR LOCAL RADIO AND
TV STATIONS...AS WELL AS LOCAL CABLE TV OUTLETS... FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
TORRENTIAL RAIN...WHICH MAY FLOOD LOW LYING AREAS SUCH AS DITCHES AND
UNDERPASSES...IS ALSO LIKELY. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE ON A FLOODED
ROADWAY.
&&
LAT...LON 3996 8586 3995 8586 3993 8589 3993 8594
3988 8594 3973 8610 3981 8623 4006 8604
TIME...MOT...LOC 2227Z 218DEG 19KT 3982 8610
SMFThe Indianapolis radar (KIND), 13 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:40 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A downtown tower media cam caught footage of a brief 38 second tornado near 16th Street and White River. No damage was reported or observed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Indiana in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Indiana, 2012Warnings in Indiana, September 2012
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: 413559.