Name: Winter Weather in Indiana, January 31, 2013
Start: 2013-01-31T14:00
End: 2013-01-31T14:00
Location: Indiana

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 10
Property damage: $400,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

A number of heavy snow squalls moved across portions of central Indiana during the afternoon of the 31st of January as a weak frontal boundary pushed across the area. One particular snow squall may have been a part of what caused a 40-car pile-up on Interstate 70. There were 10 injuries reported from the accident. At least 20 semi-trucks and 15 cars were involved in the crash.

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 Jan 30, 5:55 PM EST, 20 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 30, 5:55 PM EST, 20 hours 5 minutes before

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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Hendricks

When: January 31, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Hendricks forecast zone
Injuries: 0 direct, 10 indirect
Property damage: $400,000
Reported by: Broadcast Media
Coordinates: 39.770, -86.510 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Indiana State Police say weather conditions and driver error contributed to the massive pileup on Interstate 70 that injured 10 people and involved approximately 40 vehicles.| |According to a report from state police, the crash happened around 2:06 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 31 along I-70 westbound at the 65 mile marker.

Around the time of the crash, a sudden snow fall occurred, creating a white-out condition and bringing visibility to nearly zero, the report said. The whiteout conditions caused vehicles to brake suddenly and at different rates. While passenger vehicles were able to stop quickly, that wasn’t the case with semi-trucks.| |Drivers could not provide specifics as to the events of the crash but indicated visibility was suddenly lost and vehicles began crashing into each other, the report said. Weather conditions immediately preceding the crash indicated no such whiteout conditions. However, drivers said that all changed quickly when they reached the 65 mile marker.| |The road flash froze, according to one driver, and visibility became nearly nonexistent. Cars and trucks began spinning as they tried to stop, and a semi-truck jackknifed in the road. Other semis continued driving at high speeds and crashing. A chain reaction of crashes resulted, including a collision involving two of the larger vehicles.| |Investigators could not determine which vehicle was slow to slow or stop, the report said. Investigators concluded that nearly all drivers were going too fast to adjust to the whiteout conditions and some were following other vehicles too closely.

Almost simultaneously, another crash involving multiple vehicles happened in the eastbound lanes of I-70. State police attributed that crash to whiteout conditions and high speeds.

The eastbound report said vehicles started to hit the brakes because a semi-truck had started to jackknife across the lanes. Several crashes resulted as other trucks and cars tried to avoid slamming into vehicles in front of them. Some of those vehicles started to slide because of the road conditions.

What these are

Winter Weather: Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Indiana in 2013 Every state in 2013 This day in weather history Warnings in Indiana, January 2013

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 432269.