A cold front moved into northern Indiana during the afternoon and evening hours of August 2nd . A moist and somewhat unstable atmosphere was in place, allowing for the development of several thunderstorms.
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 IWX wrote it up.
A cold front moved into northern Indiana during the afternoon and evening hours of August 2nd . A moist and somewhat unstable atmosphere was in place, allowing for the development of several thunderstorms. A weak disturbance aided in further development of storms. Numerous storms occurred along and either side of US 30. A few of the storms produced isolated wind damage along with some flooding and flash flooding.
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 Northern Indiana wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 2, 2:57 PM EST, 36 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 357 PM EDT FRI AUG 2 2013 .SYNOPSIS... ISSUED AT 351 PM EDT FRI AUG 2 2013 A PAIR OF UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES WILL COMBINE WITH A COLD FRONTAL BOUNDARY TO PRODUCE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS MUCH OF THE REGION TONIGHT INTO EARLY SATURDAY. THE BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE SUNDAY AND MONDAY BEHIND THIS FRONT WITH MAINLY DRY CONDITIONS. A WARM FRONT WILL APPROACH THE AREA TUESDAY BRINGING THE NEXT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. && .SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH SATURDAY) ISSUED AT 351 PM EDT FRI AUG 2 2013 PRIMARY SHORT TERM FORECAST CONCERN WILL BE ON CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL TONIGHT INTO EARLY SATURDAY. SHOWERS AND EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS HAVE SHIFTED EAST OF THE FORECAST AREA THIS AFTERNOON AS ISENTROPIC UPGLIDE HAS WEAKENED THROUGH THE DAY AND SHIFTED NORTH AND EAST OF LOCAL AREA. WATER VAPOR IMAGERY AT 18Z INDICATING A COUPLE OF SHORT WAVES OF INTEREST FOR TONIGHT/EARLY SATURDAY. THE FIRST OF THESE SHORT WAVES CONTINUES TO DIG ACROSS THE ARROWHEAD OF MINNESOTA ACROSS NORTHERN WISCONSIN. ANOTHER SMALLER SCALE WAVE APPEARS TO BE KICKING OUT OF EASTERN NEBRASKA...WITH SOME PRONOUNCED VEERING MID/UPPER LEVEL FLOW PER MERRIMAN PROFILER DATA PAST HOUR BEHIND THIS SHORT WAVE. A 120 KNOT UPPER JET STREAK DIGGING THROUGH BASE OF NORTHERN GREAT LAKES UPPER TROUGH WILL PLACE LOCAL AREA INCREASINGLY IN MORE FAVORED RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION BY LATE EVENING. VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGERY TRENDS OVER PAST SEVERAL HOURS HAVE BEEN TOWARD BUILDING CU ALONG PREFRONTAL TROUGH TYPE FEATURE FROM THE QUAD CITIES INTO NORTHEAST ILLINOIS WHERE SFC DEW POINTS HAVE POOLED INTO THE UPPER 60S TO AROUND 70. ABOVE MID/UPPER LEVEL FORCING MECHANISMS SHOULD INTERACT WITH NARROW PREFRONTAL TROUGH TYPE FEATURE TO INCREASE COVERAGE OF SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS NORTHEAST ILLINOIS...AND EVENTUALLY INTO NORTHERN INDIANA/SOUTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN AS LARGER SCALE FRONTAL RESPONSE SHIFTS INTO THE AREA. RAP INITIALIZATION DATA DOES INDICATE THE RELATIVE STABLE BUBBLE ACROSS NORTHERN INDIANA GIVING WAY TO AXIS OF 100 HPA MLCAPES ON THE ORDER OF 1000 J/KG LATE THIS AFTERNOON. BASED ON HOW CURRENT SCENARIO SEEMS TO BE UNFOLDING...HAVE NOT MADE MANY CHANGES TO SCT POPS TRANSITIONING TO LIKELY POPS EARLY THIS EVENING ESPECIALLY SOUTHERN HALF AS FRONTAL CIRCULATION BEGINS TO MATURE. EXPECTING SCATTERED CONVECTION TO GENERALLY MERGE INTO LARGER AREA OF RAIN AND EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS AS THIS OCCURS. SOME DECENT RAINFALL AMOUNTS POSSIBLE ESPECIALLY SOUTHERN HALF GIVEN MOISTURE POOLING ALONG THE FRONT AND INCREASING FRONTOGENETIC RESPONSE LATER THIS EVENING. A FEW STRONGER CELLS ARE POSSIBLE LATE AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING THROUGH ABOUT 00Z ACROSS ESPECIALLY WESTERN HALF GIVEN FAIRLY ROBUST DEEP LAYER SHEAR...BUT OVERALL SEVERE THREAT SHOULD REMAIN ISOLATED DUE TO MARGINAL INSTABILITY PROFILES. GENERALLY UTILIZED SREF IDEA FOR TIMING FRONTAL PROGRESSION INTO SATURDAY MORNING WHICH LARGELY SUPPORTS GOING FORECAST SO NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES MADE TO SATURDAY POPS WITH BULK OF PRECIP SHIFTING SOUTH OF THE AREA LATE MORNING. && .LONG TERM...(SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY) ISSUED AT 351 PM EDT FRI AUG 2 2013 BRIEF RETURN TO TRANQUIL WEATHER EXPECTED FOR EARLY NEXT WEEK. SHORTWAVE RIDGING/SUBTLE MIDLEVEL HEIGHT RISES AND ANTICYCLONIC LOW LEVEL FLOW WILL BRING DRY CONDITIONS BEGINNING SATURDAY NIGHT AS THE COLD FRONT EXITS OUR AREA. LIGHT NORTHERLY WINDS/CAA AND DECREASING CLOUDS SHOULD ALLOW FOR A COOL NIGHT WITH LOWS DROPPING INTO THE LOW TO MID 50S PER CONSENSUS OF LATEST RAW AND STATISTICAL GUIDANCE. STRONG NEGATIVE THETA-E ADVECTION WILL LEAD TO MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES ON SUNDAY WITH JUST ENOUGH BOUNDARY LAYER MOISTURE SEEN IN FORECAST SOUNDINGS TO SUPPORT A FEW DIURNAL CU. 850MB TEMPS ALSO DROP INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS BUT AMPLE SUN SHOULD PUSH AFTERNOON TEMPS INTO THE MID 70S FOR MOST LOCATIONS. SURFACE HIGH WILL DRIFT OVERHEAD BY SUNDAY NIGHT WITH ANOTHER COOL NIGHT IN THE LOW 50S EXPECTED. A FEW AREAS IN OUR NORTHEAST MAY EVEN TOUCH UPPER 40S IF MIDLEVEL CLOUDS HOLD OFF LONG ENOUGH. SLIGHT MODERATION OF CANADIAN AIRMASS WILL ALLOW TEMPS ON MONDAY TO CLIMB A DEGREE OR TWO HIGHER BUT STILL ONLY MID TO UPPER 70S AT BEST. BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK A PIECE OF ENERGY IS EXPECTED TO BREAK OFF THE POLAR VORTEX AND PHASE WITH THE PERSISTENT HUDSON BAY CLOSED LOW...ESTABLISHING A DEEP PV ANOMALY THAT IS EXPECTED TO MEANDER ACROSS SOUTHERN CANADA FOR MUCH OF NEXT WEEK. MEANWHILE...SEVERAL WEAK SHORTWAVES EMANATING FROM THE NORTHWEST CONUS TROUGH WILL BE SHEARED ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES IN FAST WNW FLOW ALOFT ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF AFOREMENTIONED ANOMALY. RETURN FLOW ON THE BACKSIDE OF DEPARTING SURFACE HIGH WILL ALSO BEGIN TO ADVECT A SLIGHTLY WARMER AND MORE MOIST/UNSTABLE AIRMASS BACK INTO THE REGION DURING THIS TIME. NEEDLESS TO SAY NUMERICAL GUIDANCE IS STRUGGLING WITH THE EVOLUTION OF THIS PATTERN. LATEST 12Z GFS IS CONTINUING TO TREND TOWARD THE MORE CONSISTENT ECMWF IN SHOWING THE BEST PRECIP POTENTIAL HOLDING OFF UNTIL LATE TUESDAY AND INTO WEDNESDAY BUT CONTINUES TO SHOW SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BY LATE IN THE WEEK. CERTAINLY COULD BE A FEW SCATTERED SHOWERS FROM WAA/ISENTROPIC ASCENT ON TUESDAY BUT WILL HIGHLIGHT WEDNESDAY WITH THE HIGHEST POPS AS THE MAIN SHORTWAVE/COLD FRONT PUSH THROUGH THE REGION. WILL LEAVE THE END OF THE WEEK DRY FOR NOW UNTIL THE MODELS GET A BETTER HANDLE ON EVOLUTION OF DEEP CANADIAN VORTEX. SLIGHTLY WARMER TEMPS EXPECTED NEXT WEEK IN SOUTHWEST FLOW AHEAD OF FRONT BUT STILL HOVERING NEAR TO EVEN SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL FOR EARLY AUGUST. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SATURDAY AFTERNOON) ISSUED AT 153 PM EDT FRI AUG 2 2013 ISENTROPIC FORCING WILL CONTINUE TO SHIFT EAST OF THE AREA AND WEAKEN OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS. THIS WILL RESULT IN LINGERING SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS FAR NORTHEAST INDIANA TO SHIFT EAST OF KFWA BY 19Z. VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGERY DEPICTS SOME ENHANCEMENT TO CU BACK ACROSS NORTHERN ILLINOIS ALONG WEAK PREFRONTAL CONVERGENCE ZONE. LARGE SCALE FORCING WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS AS UPPER LEVEL SHORT WAVE ACROSS THE UPPER MIDWEST DROPS INTO THE GREAT LAKES REGION. WARM SECTOR SHOULD BECOME INCREASINGLY MORE ACTIVE WITH SHOWERS AND EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS BY THE 21Z-00Z TIMEFRAME. BASED ON ORIENTATION OF PREFRONTAL CONVERGENCE ZONE...WOULD SUSPECT BEST CHANCE OF SHRA/TSRA AT KFWA IN THE 00Z-05Z TIMEFRAME. CONFIDENCE IN COVERAGE/DURATION OF ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AT KSBN SOMEWHAT LOW AND HAVE CONFINED PRECIP MENTION TO TEMPO -SHRA IN THE 21Z TO 01Z TIMEFRAME. WINDS TO BECOME LIGHT WEST/NORTHWEST BEHIND THE FRONT TONIGHT WITH FOCUS FOR ADDITIONAL PRECIP LIKELY REMAINING SOUTH OF KFWA ON SATURDAY. && .IWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IN...NONE. MI...NONE. OH...NONE. LM...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...MARSILI SHORT TERM...MARSILI LONG TERM...AGD AVIATION...MARSILI VISIT US AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/IWX (ALL LOWER CASE) FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK...TWITTER...AND YOUTUBE AT: WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/US.NATIONALWEATHERSERVICE.NORTHERNIN.GOV WWW.TWITTER.COM/NWSIWX WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/NWSNORTHERNINDIANA
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 505 AM EDT FRI AUG 2 2013 INZ003>009-012>018-020-022>027-032>034-MIZ077>081-OHZ001-002-004-005- 015-016-024-025-030915- LA PORTE-ST. JOSEPH IN-ELKHART-LAGRANGE-STEUBEN-NOBLE-DE KALB-STARKE- PULASKI-MARSHALL-FULTON IN-KOSCIUSKO-WHITLEY-ALLEN IN-WHITE-CASS IN- MIAMI-WABASH-HUNTINGTON-WELLS-ADAMS-GRANT-BLACKFORD-JAY-BERRIEN- CASS MI-ST. JOSEPH MI-BRANCH-HILLSDALE-WILLIAMS-FULTON OH-DEFIANCE- HENRY-PAULDING-PUTNAM-VAN WERT-ALLEN OH- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...MICHIGAN CITY...LA PORTE...SOUTH BEND... MISHAWAKA...ELKHART...GOSHEN...LAGRANGE...TOPEKA...ANGOLA... KENDALLVILLE...LIGONIER...AUBURN...GARRETT...KNOX...NORTH JUDSON... WINAMAC...FRANCESVILLE...PLYMOUTH...BREMEN...ROCHESTER...WARSAW... WINONA LAKE...COLUMBIA CITY...SOUTH WHITLEY...FORT WAYNE... MONTICELLO...BROOKSTON...LOGANSPORT...PERU...WABASH... NORTH MANCHESTER...HUNTINGTON...BLUFFTON...OSSIAN...DECATUR... BERNE...MARION...HARTFORD CITY...MONTPELIER...PORTLAND...NILES... BENTON HARBOR...ST. JOSEPH...BUCHANAN...DOWAGIAC...CASSOPOLIS... STURGIS...THREE RIVERS...COLDWATER...HILLSDALE...BRYAN...WAUSEON... ARCHBOLD...DEFIANCE...NAPOLEON...PAULDING...ANTWERP...OTTAWA... PANDORA...VAN WERT...DELPHOS...LIMA 505 AM EDT FRI AUG 2 2013 /405 AM CDT FRI AUG 2 2013/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST OHIO... SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN AND NORTHERN INDIANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED IN THE AREA. THE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY... AND A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. THERE IS A SMALL POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE STORMS ON WEDNESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY OR TONIGHT. && STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES...OR CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT WEATHER.GOV/IWX LMZ043-046-030915- NEW BUFFALO MI TO ST JOSEPH MI-MICHIGAN CITY IN TO NEW BUFFALO MI- 505 AM EDT FRI AUG 2 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE NEARSHORE WATERS OF SOUTHEASTERN LAKE MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED. THE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. THERE IS A SMALL POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE STORMS ON WEDNESDAY. && STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES...OR CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT WEATHER.GOV/IWX
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 417 PM EDT FRI AUG 2 2013 INZ014>016-024-022100- FULTON IN-KOSCIUSKO IN-MARSHALL IN-WABASH IN- 417 PM EDT FRI AUG 2 2013 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING TOWARD EXTREME NORTHEASTERN MIAMI... NORTHERN WABASH...EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN WHITLEY...SOUTHERN KOSCIUSKO...SOUTHEASTERN MARSHALL AND NORTHEASTERN FULTON COUNTIES... AT 412 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR ROCHESTER...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. PENNY SIZE HAIL...WINDS UP TO 50 MPH...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE... NORTH MANCHESTER... AKRON...SEVASTOPOL AND BEAVER DAM... BEAVER DAM LAKE AND BURKET... DISKO... CLAYPOOL AND SILVER LAKE... PACKERTON... GUSTY WINDS MAY CAUSE SMALL BRANCHES TO BE BLOWN DOWN...AND LOOSE OBJECTS TO BLOW AROUND. STAY AWAY FROM HIGH OBJECTS OUTDOORS SUCH AS TREES. SEEK SHELTER IN A STURDY STRUCTURE UNTIL THIS STORM HAS PASSED. LAT...LON 4120 8623 4113 8569 4096 8568 4104 8625 TIME...MOT...LOC 2017Z 276DEG 24KT 4112 8609 LEWIS
The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 36 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:33 UTC.
3 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Local law enforcement officials reported numerous trees and tree limbs down.
The public reported two large trees were blown down.
A trained spotter reported a tree was blown down onto power lines.
Local media reported flash flooding in portions of Fort Wayne. Several roadways had flowing water over them, with water past the bottom of car doors.
Numerous roads across the southern half of the county had flowing water. The greatest concentration was from North Webster south to Silver Lake, along and either side of State Route 15. County Road 450 North, one-quarter mile west of County Road 375 E was closed due to two feet of flowing water over the road. Three to five inches of rain fell in these areas.
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, August 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: 466420, 466421, 466424, 466448, 466454.