Thunderstorms brought heavy rain to much of central Indiana on April 18th and early on April 19th. Some areas of central Indiana received around 5 inches of rain in 24 hours.
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.
Thunderstorms brought heavy rain to much of central Indiana on April 18th and early on April 19th. Some areas of central Indiana received around 5 inches of rain in 24 hours. This was on top of heavy rain from previous days. The result was flooding of numerous streams and rivers, some of which reached record 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 Apr 18, 2:33 PM EST, 11 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 333 PM EDT THU APR 18 2013 .UPDATE... THE NEAR TERM SECTION HAVE BEEN UPDATED BELOW && .SYNOPSIS... ISSUED AT 225 PM EDT THU APR 18 2013 A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL ADVANCE EASTWARD ACROSS CENTRAL INDIANA THIS EVENING AND EARLY OVERNIGHT. SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED AHEAD OF THE FRONT. COLD AIR WILL MOVE IN BEHIND THE FRONT ON FRIDAY WITH AFTERNOON HIGHS EXPECTED TO ONLY REACH THE 40S AND 50S. OVERNIGHT LOWS FRIDAY NIGHT WILL BE NEAR FREEZING. TEMPERATURES WILL GRADUALLY WARM TO THE 60S BY MONDAY BUT THEN FALL BACK TO THE 50S ON WEDNESDAY BEHIND YET ANOTHER FRONTAL SYSTEM. THIS SYSTEM WILL BRING THUNDERSTORM CHANCES BACK TO CENTRAL INDIANA BY MONDAY. && .NEAR TERM /TONIGHT/... ISSUED AT 333 PM EDT THU APR 18 2013 PULLED THE WIND ADVISORY AS LACK OF SUNSHINE AND MIXING HAS KEPT SUSTAINED WINDS AND GUSTS WELL BELOW ADVISORY CRITERIA. PREVIOUS DISCUSSION FOLLOWS... SEVERE WEATHER AND HEAVY RAIN/FLOODING IS THE MAIN CONCERN FOR THE NEAR TERM AS STRONG FRONTAL SYSTEM...CURRENTLY ACROSS SOUTHEASTERN IOAW AND CENTRAL MISSOURI...SLIDES EAST TO NEAR OUR WESTERN BOUNDARY BY 00Z TONIGHT AND JUST EAST OF THE FORECAST AREA BY 06Z. RADAR AND OBSERVATIONS WERE SHOWING THE LINE THAT MOVED ACROSS NORTHWESTERN PARTS OF CENTRAL INDIANA HAS LOST ITS SOLID FEATURE AND WAS WEAKENING. EVEN BEFORE THAT...IT WAS WELL BELOW SEVERE LIMITS. LOOKS LIKE THE MAIN SEVERE THREAT WILL NOT BE UNTIL AFTER 20Z WHEN THE RAPID REFRESH RELECTIVITY PROGS FROM 14Z ALONG WITH AWIPS DISTANCE SPEED TOOL TRACKS STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS...CURRENTLY ACROSS SOUTHEASTERN MISSOURI...TO WESTERN PARTS OF CENTRAL INDIANA. THE REFRESH RELFECTIVITY HAS HANDLED THE SOUTHWESTERN PART OF THE EARLIER SQUALL LINE WELL AS IT STALLED IT OUT AND EVEN LIFTED IT SLOWLY NORTH NEAR A BOUNDARY AND NORTHEAST OF A MESOLOW ACROSS SOUTHEASTERN MISSOURI. THE REFRESH BRINGS THE LINE TO NEAR IND AND BMG AROUND 23Z AND TO OUR SOUTHEASTERN FORECAST AREA BY 02Z. SO EXPECT THE MAIN SEVERE THREAT TO BE FROM 4 PM TO 10 PM EDT. WOULD ALSO NOT RULE OUT A SUPERCELL OR TWO OUT AHEAD OF THE MAIN SQUALL LINE WITH STRONG SHEAR AND MIXED LAYER CAPES TO 1000 J/KG OR MORE SUGGESTING DECENT TORNADO THREAT WHICH THE DAY ONE SEAVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FROM STORM PREDICTION CENTER IS ADVERTISING. SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST 60 KNOT LOW LEVEL JET JUST AHEAD OF THE LINE WILL INCREASE LOW LEVEL SHEAR AND ALSO PROVIDE STRONGER CONVERGENCE NEAR THE PRE-FRONTAL BOUNDARY. ALSO...AREA WILL BE IN RIGHT REAR QUADRANT OF VIGOROUS 130 PLUS KNOT UPPER JET STREAK ACROSS WISONSIN. THIS WILL NOT ONLY AID IN SEVERE WEATHER BUT ALSO IN PRECIPITATION EFFICIENCY AS FORCING INTERACTS WITH PRECIPITABLE WATER AMOUNTS ABOVE 1.50 INCHES. FLASH FLOODING WILL CONTINUE TO BE A THREAT WITH MOST LOCALES UNABLE TO TAKE MUCH MORE WATER. 3 HOUR FLASH FLOOD GUIDANCE WAS BELOW 2 INCHES OVER 3 HOURS AND WITH DIFFLUENT FLOW ALOFT AND LARGE AMOUNTS OF MOISTURE...SHOULD SEE QUIT A BIT OF RAIN PERHAPS IN EXCESS OF 2 INCHES TONIGHT. ALTHOUGH THUNDER WILL LIKELY LINGER BEHIND THE MAIN SQUALL LINE IN THE TRAILING STRATIFORM...THROUGH MUCH OF THE NIGHT...SEVERE THREAT SHOULD BE OVER BY 10 PM. OVERNIGHT LOWS SHOULD BOTTOM OUT IN THE 40S PER SIMILAR MOS AND ALLBLEND. && .SHORT TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... ISSUED AT 225 PM EDT THU APR 18 2013 MAIN CHALLENGE TO THE SHORT TERM WILL BE TIMING OF CLEARING ALONG WITH TEMPERATURES AS UPPER TROUGH MOVES THROUGH FRIDAY AND FRIDAY EVENING IN THE WAKE OF THE STRONG COLD FRONT. MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT ON ENOUGH MOISTURE AND LIFT WITH THE UPPER TROUGH TO KEEP LINGERING POST-FRONTAL SHOWER CHANCES IN FORECAST THROUGH FRIDAY. CHANCE POPS IN THE MORNING WITH THE HIGHEST POPS SOUTHEAST DROPPING OFF TO SLIGHT CHANCE POPS DURING THE AFTERNOON. MODELS AGREE ON HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING IN FROM THE SOUTHWEST AFTER 00Z SATURDAY WITH MOISTURE DECREASING FROM SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST. SO...SHOULD SEE SOME CLEARING FRIDAY EVENING AND EVEN MORE SO FRIDAY OVERNIGHT FROM SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST. THE REST OF THE SHORT TERM...SHOULD SEE LITTLE CLOUD COVER AS THE NEXT FRONTAL SYSTEM LAGS WELL TO THE WEST ACROSS THE UPPER MIDWEST AND PLAINS BY 00Z MONDAY. SOME CONCERN OF FREEZING TEMPERATURES FRIDAY NIGHT WITH THE CLEARING...HOWEVER DUE TO THE NUMEROUS HEADLINES ALREADY IN EFFECT AND SIMILAR MOS ONLY A DEGREE OR TWO BELOW FREEZING AT SOME LOCALES...WILL NOT ISSUE ANY FREEZE HEADLINES FOR NOW. WILL IN FACT GO WITH ALLBLEND WHICH WAS SLIGHTLY ABOVE FREEZING AT ALL SITES AND FURTHER JUSTIFIES LEAVING HEADLINES OUT. OTHERWISE...MOS TEMPERATURES VERY CLOSE AND LOOK REASONABLE WITH HIGHS FRIDAY ONLY IN THE UPPER 40S AND LOWER 50S. TEMPERATURES SHOULD GRADUALLY WARM TO THE UPPER 50S AND MID 60S BY SUNDAY AS THE HIGH MOVES BY AND SOUTHEAST FLOW INCREASES. && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/... ISSUED AT 225 PM EDT THU APR 18 2013 MODELS ARE SIMILAR ENOUGH THAT THE ALLBLEND INITIALIZATION CAN BE USED FOR MOST ITEMS IN THE LONG TERM. AN UPPER TROUGH WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA DURING THE EXTENDED...BRINGING ANOTHER SHOT OF COOLER AIR AS WELL AS CHANCES FOR RAIN. A COLD FRONT WILL LEAD THE WAY FOR THE COOLER AIR...BRINGING CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY NIGHT. AS THE COOLER AIR AND UPPER TROUGH MOVE IN...CHANCES FOR SHOWERS WILL LINGER INTO WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL COOL FROM HIGHS IN THE UPPER 60S ON MONDAY TO THE 50S ON WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. LOWS WILL DIP INTO THE 30S. && .AVIATION /DISCUSSION FOR THE 181800Z TAFS/... ISSUED AT 1238 PM EDT THU APR 18 2013 NUMEROUS TSRA AROUND WITH CONDITIONS POTENTIALLY DOWN TO IFR FOR THE FIRST HALF OF THE PERIOD...THEN MVFR CEILINGS WILL BE THE RULE FOR THE SECOND HALF. GUSTY WINDS WILL BE AN ISSUE THROUGH THE PERIOD. FIRST AREA OF TSRA WILL CONTINUE AT KLAF...WHILE KIND AND KHUF MAY BE ON THE BORDER AS THE LINE SLOWS/STALLS OUT AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING SURFACE WAVE. KBMG WILL PROBABLY SEE SCATTERED TSRA. MAIN LINE OF STORMS WILL ARRIVE SOMEWHERE IN THE 21-24Z TIME FRAME WITH RAIN AND EMBEDDED THUNDER CONTINUING FOR SEVERAL HOURS THEREAFTER. IFR CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE IN STORMS ALONG WITH LARGE HAIL AND HIGH WINDS. AFTER THE RAIN MOVES OUT EXPECT MVFR CEILINGS TO CONTINUE AS COLD AIR FLOWS INTO THE AREA. WINDS WILL BE GUSTY OUTSIDE OF STORMS TODAY...WITH GUSTS OVER 35KT POSSIBLE. AFTER THE FRONT PASSES OVERNIGHT...GUSTS TO AROUND 25KT WILL CONTINUE. && .IND WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING FOR INZ021-028>031- 035>049-051>057-060>065-067>072. && SYNOPSIS...MK NEAR TERM...MK SHORT TERM...MK LONG TERM....50 AVIATION...50
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 316 PM EDT THU APR 18 2013 INZ021-028>031-035>049-051>057-060>065-067>072-191000- 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- 316 PM EDT THU APR 18 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL INDIANA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. OUTLOOK: SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. HAZARDS: WIDESPREAD DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL...TORNADOES AND TORRENTIAL RAINFALL PRODUCING FLASH FLOODING. ALL THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AS WELL. TIMING: THROUGH THIS EVENING. DISCUSSION: A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH CENTRAL INDIANA BRINGING CHANCES FOR WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER TO THE AREA TODAY AND TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. OUTLOOK: THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE NEXT MONDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. IT IS TOO EARLY TO DETERMINE IF SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE A FACTOR HOWEVER LIGHTNING IS A THREAT WITH ANY THUNDERSTORM. DISCUSSION: COLD AIR WILL USHER IN BEHIND THE SYSTEM ON FRIDAY BRINGING HIGH TEMPERATURES BACK DOWN INTO THE 40S AND LOWS FRIDAY NIGHT APPROACHING THE FREEZING MARK BEFORE TEMPERATURES BEGIN TO REBOUND. THE NEXT CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION WILL COME ON MONDAY AND REMAIN THROUGH MID WEEK AS ANOTHER FRONTAL SYSTEM ARRIVES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE NEEDED TODAY INTO TONIGHT. && MORE INFORMATION...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND...AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/IND (ALL LOWERCASE) KOCH
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
312 PM EDT THU APR 18 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0311 PM HEAVY RAIN 6 W LEBANON 40.05N 86.57W
04/18/2013 E2.00 INCH BOONE IN CO-OP OBSERVER
STARTED AROUND NOON AND ENDED AT ABOUT 3PM.
&&
MMBThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
21 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Some streets in the city were flooded due to thunderstorm heavy rainfall.
Water from fields were covering numerous roads due to thunderstorm heavy rainfall.
Water was flowing over the culvert near the intersection of County Roads 200 South and 900 East due to thunderstorm heavy rainfall.
Some streets, including State Route 213, in town were flooded after 2.81 inches of rain for the day.
High water was reported on 96th Street between the Technology Center and Zionsville Road due to thunderstorm heavy rainfall. High water was also reported from the 8800 block of West Oak Street between County Road 875 East and Shelburne Way. Also, Eagle Creek was out of its banks and into the parking lot at Turkeyfoot Park.
High water was reported on 96th Street between the Technology Center and Zionsville Road due to thunderstorm heavy rainfall. High water was also reported from the 8800 block of West Oak Street between County Road 875 East and Shelburne Way. Also, Eagle Creek was out of its banks and into the parking lot at Turkeyfoot Park.
Multiple reports of flooding came in from across the county due to thunderstorm heavy rainfall.
Flooding was reported in the Mars Hill area on the southwest side of Indianapolis due to thunderstorm heavy rainfall. This report was received via Facebook.
Flooding was reported in the Noblesville area due to thunderstorm heavy rainfall. This report was received via Facebook.
The intersection of 4th and Thomas Streets was flooded due to thunderstorm heavy rainfall. Also, Bicknell Road was nearly underwater and 7th Street in the 600 block was flooded as well.
Water was flowing over the intersection of Shady Nook Road and Amesbury Place due to thunderstorm heavy rainfall. A small part of the road had washed out.
Water was flowing over the intersection of Shady Nook Road and Amesbury Place due to thunderstorm heavy rainfall. A small part of the road had washed out.
Residents reported their homes being surrounded by water due to thunderstorm heavy rainfall. This report was received via Facebook.
Flooding was ongoing in this location due to thunderstorm heavy rainfall. One home was reported to have been evacuated.
Flooding was ongoing in this location due to thunderstorm heavy rainfall. One home was reported to have been evacuated.
Flooding was ongoing in this location due to thunderstorm heavy rainfall. One home was reported to have been evacuated.
Some mobile homes were evacuated as flood waters were chest high due to thunderstorm heavy rainfall. This report was received via Twitter.
The intersection of State Road 38 and Hague Road was closed due to thunderstorm heavy rainffall.
The bridge on County Road 400 West near 925 North was washed out completely due to thunderstorm heavy rainfall. Pipe Creek also flooded in Elwood and other areas of Madison County flooded as well.
Five families were evacuated from the Old Mill Run Campground along Sugar Creek due to thunderstorm heavy rainfall. Also, a car rescue from high water occurred at the intersection of County Road 900 West and State Route 47, just west of Thorntown.
Five families were evacuated from the Old Mill Run Campground along Sugar Creek due to thunderstorm heavy rainfall. Also, a car rescue from high water occurred at the intersection of County Road 900 West and State Route 47, just west of Thorntown.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Indiana in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Indiana, April 2013
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: 447465, 447466, 447476, 447480, 447496, 447497, 447499, 447500, 447501, 447502, 447503, 447504, 447507, 447508, 447509, 447510, 447517, 447519, 447545, 447603, 447604.