A weak upper level system dropped southeast across the region. A stationary boundary extended west to east across the area.
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 weak upper level system dropped southeast across the region. A stationary boundary extended west to east across the area. Three rounds of thunderstorms developed either across the area or upstream in Illinois and tracked southeast along the front. Precipitable water exceeded 2 inches allowing for a very moist atmosphere and efficient rain producing thunderstorms. The first round produced isolated severe weather in Starke and Pulaski County with the threat quickly transitioning to heavy rain and flooding. The hardest hit area for rainfall was across Grant, Blackford and Jay counties where a swath of 8 to 10 inches of rain fell with locally higher amounts. There were numerous water rescues and a portion of Interstate 69 in Grant County was closed in both directions due to flood waters.
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 21, 3:30 PM CST, 1 hour 35 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 530 PM EDT THU AUG 21 2014 .SYNOPSIS... ISSUED AT 310 PM EDT THU AUG 21 2014 A SERIES OF UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES WILL MOVE ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES AND OHIO VALLEY REGIONS TONIGHT. THESE DISTURBANCES WILL INTERACT WITH A STALLED FRONTAL BOUNDARY ACROSS THE REGION AND ABUNDANT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE TO PRODUCE A GOOD CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT INTO EARLY FRIDAY. AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BUILD INTO THE REGION FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY WITH HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS...ALONG WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. LOW TEMPERATURES TONIGHT WILL DROP INTO THE UPPER 60S AND LOWER 70S. HIGH TEMPERATURES ON FRIDAY WILL RANGE FROM THE LOWER TO MID 80S ACROSS CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN...TO AROUND 90 ACROSS NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND CENTRAL INDIANA. && .UPDATE... ISSUED AT 530 PM EDT THU AUG 21 2014 GROWING INCREASINGLY CONCERNED W/CONV CLUSTER OVER NE IL LATE THIS AFTN. 21Z SFC OBS/VIS SAT IMAGERY SHOW OUTFLW INDUCED BAROCLINIC ZONE ALG A KVPZ...KRCR...KHHG LINE AND LARGE/VERY UNSTABLE RESERVOIR S/SW ACRS CNTRL IL/IN. SUSPECT W/GRADUAL INCREASING MOIST SWRLY INFLOW INTO THIS FTR THROUGH THIS EVENING WILL YIELD BOTH A LOW END SEVERE WIND/ISOLD HAIL RISK. MORE IMPORTANTLY A RISK FOR FLOODING AS CELLS TEND TO PARALLEL BOTH LL BNDRY AND MID LVL SHEAR VECTOR SUGGESTING ECHO TRAINING AND HEAVY RAIN LIKELY INVOF OF THE HIGHWAY 30 CORRIDOR. WILL MAKE SOME SIG ADJUSTMENTS TO GOING POPS/WX THROUGH THIS EVENING TO REFLECT ABOVE THINKING W/ZFP AMENDMENTS FORTHCOMING. && .SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH FRIDAY) ISSUED AT 310 PM EDT THU AUG 21 2014 THE NEXT IN A SERIES OF SMALL SCALE SHORT WAVES ACROSS SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN WILL DROP EAST SOUTHEAST OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS RESULTING IN INCREASING COVERAGE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. CONVECTION EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON HAS STABILIZED CONDITIONS SOMEWHAT FOR SFC BASED PARCELS...BUT WELL-ESTABLISHED AXIS OF POOLED LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL ALLOW FOR MODERATE ELEVATED INSTABILITY AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS. SHOWERS ALSO APPEAR TO BE FOCUSING LATE THIS AFTERNOON ON AXIS OF DIFFERENTIAL HEATING FROM VPZ-RCR-AOH. SHEAR PROFILES WILL BE STEADILY ON THE INCREASE OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS HOWEVER...AS BELT OF STRONGER UPPER LEVEL WESTERLIES OVERSPREADS THE SOUTHERN GREAT LAKES REGION. LIMITING FACTORS TO INSTABILITY SHOULD TEND TO MITIGATE SEVERE POTENTIAL OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS. NEXT UPPER LEVEL SHORT WAVE PROGRESSING THROUGH MEAN RIDGE ACROSS EASTERN IOWA/NORTHWEST ILLINOIS SHOULD ALLOW FOR CONTINUED BROAD ISENTROPIC ASCENT OVER LOW LEVEL BOUNDARY ACROSS THE REGION...WITH CONTINUED THUNDER CHANCES LATE EVENING INTO THE EARLY PORTION OF THE OVERNIGHT. SOME LOW END SEVERE POTENTIAL MAY EXIST IF UPSTREAM CONVECTION CAN CONGEAL LATER THIS EVENING...WHICH CANNOT BE RULED OUT GIVEN STRENGTHENING BACKGROUND SHEAR PROFILES. OTHER CONCERN FOR TONIGHT WILL BE POSSIBLE HYDRO IMPACTS. SHOWERS/STORMS EARLIER TODAY LAID OUT AN AXIS OF 1-2 INCH RAINFALL AMOUNTS FROM WESTERN STARKE COUNTY INTO GRANT COUNTY. THIS CORRIDOR SHOULD REPRESENT BEST OVERALL ELEVATED INSTABILITY TONIGHT...AND WITH LITTLE DISPLACEMENT OF NEARLY 2 INCH PWAT AXIS AND WARM CLOUD DEPTHS GREATER THAN 12K FT...CANNOT RULE SOME LOCALIZED HEAVY RAINFALL. WITH STILL SOME UNCERTAINTIES ON HOW UPSTREAM CONVECTION WILL EVOLVE TONIGHT...AND A FAIRLY SIZABLE TEMPORAL GAP FROM THIS MORNINGS HEAVY RAINFALL...HAVE OPTED TO HOLD OFF ON ANY HYDRO HEADLINES AT THIS TIME. AFOREMENTIONED IOWA SHORT WAVE WILL BECOME MORE SHEARED IN NATURE ACROSS THE OHIO VALLEY/SOUTHERN GREAT LAKES TONIGHT INTO EARLY FRIDAY MORNING AND PROVIDE BEST FORCING TO EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE AREA BY AFTERNOON. MID LEVEL HEIGHT RISES WILL SLOWLY BUILD IN FROM THE WEST DURING THE DAY ALSO...WHICH SHOULD TEND TO LIMIT CONVECTIVE COVERAGE ACROSS FAR WESTERN AREAS BY LATE AFTERNOON. HAVE MAINTAINED HIGH CHANCE POPS INTO FRIDAY MORNING...WITH GRADUALLY DIMINISHING POPS FROM WEST TO EAST DURING THE AFTERNOON. IF GOOD DEAL OF INSOLATION CAN BE REALIZED...TEMPERATURES COULD REACH INTO THE LOWER 90S ACROSS SOUTHWEST PORTIONS OF THE AREA LATE AFTERNOON...WITH HEAT INDICES PUSHING NEAR THE 100 DEGREE MARK. GREATER CLOUD COVER/PRECIP SHOULD ALLOW FOR HEAT INDICES REMAINING IN THE LOWER 90S ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF. && .LONG TERM...(FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY) ISSUED AT 310 PM EDT THU AUG 21 2014 UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BUILD NORTHEAST INTO THE GREAT LAKES REGION THIS WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK WHICH WILL SUPPORT A TREND TOWARD HOT/MAINLY DRY WX. RETAINED LOW CHANCES FOR SHOWERS/STORMS FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY...MAINLY SOUTHWEST WHERE LOW LEVEL THETA-E GRADIENT REMAINS ANCHORED AS COOLER EASTERLY DRAINAGE FLOW INTO OUR NORTHEASTERN ZONES LIMITS NORTHEAST MIX OF DIFFUSE INSTABILITY GRADIENT/BOUNDARY. PRECIP CHANCES REMAIN NONZERO INTO SUNDAY AND MONDAY GIVEN AN INCREASINGLY MOIST/UNSTABLE BOUNDARY LAYER...ALTHOUGH WARMING/DRYING ALOFT UNDER UPPER RIDGE AXIS SUGGEST HOLDING WITH A DRY FCST (10 POP) STILL THE WAY TO GO. GRADUAL EASTWARD DRIFT OF A WESTERN CONUS UPPER TROUGH INTO THE NORTH-CENTRAL US WILL EVENTUALLY FLATTEN UPPER RIDGE IN PLACE... WITH MOISTURE CHANNEL/THETA-E FOLD INTO THE LOWER LAKES SUPPORTING INCREASING CHANCES FOR SHOWERS/STORMS. MODELS CONTINUE TO DIFFER WITH TIMING/AMPLITUDE OF THIS FEATURE RESULTING IN LOW CONFIDENCE POP/TEMP FCST TUESDAY AND BEYOND. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z FRIDAY AFTERNOON) ISSUED AT 129 PM EDT THU AUG 21 2014 FIRST WAVE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO EXIT NORTHEAST INDIANA OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS...WITH ATTENTION FOR REMAINDER OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING TURNING UPSTREAM WITH A COUPLE OF ADDITIONAL SHORT WAVE PROGRESSING THROUGH UPPER RIDGE. SOME LINGERING IFR CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST OVER THE NEXT HOUR OR TWO BEFORE IMPROVING AFTER 20Z. THE NEXT SHORT WAVE ACROSS SOUTHERN WISCONSIN SHOULD ALLOW SHOWERS TO MOVE BACK INTO NORTH CENTRAL INDIANA LATE THIS AFTERNOON. A RELATIVE STABLE BUBBLE PERSISTS ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL INDIANA IN REGARDS TO SFC BASED CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL...BUT SUSPECTING ENOUGH ELEVATED INSTABILITY WILL BE PRESENT FOR SOME THUNDER POTENTIAL AS THE SRN WISCONSIN SHORT WAVE SHIFTS EASTWARD THIS AFTERNOON. BETTER CHANCE OF THUNDER STILL APPEARS TO BE IN STORE FOR LATE EVENING INTO THE OVERNIGHT AS NEXT UPSTREAM IOWA SHORT WAVE APPROACHES THE AREA WITH PERSISTENT ISENTROPIC UPGLIDE ASSOCIATED WITH LOW LEVEL BOUNDARY ACROSS THE REGION. HAVE KEPT IN VCSH MENTION AFTER 12Z WITH A MORE MUDDLED PICTURE AT THIS FORECAST DISTANCE IN TERMS OF LATCHING ONTO ANY SIGNIFICANT ADDITIONAL SHORT WAVES. GRADUALLY MID LEVEL HEIGHT RISES TOWARD THE END OF THE PERIOD SHOULD DIMINISH CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL LATER FRIDAY AFTERNOON. && .IWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IN...NONE. MI...NONE. OH...NONE. LM...NONE. && UPDATE...T SYNOPSIS...MARSILI SHORT TERM...MARSILI LONG TERM...STEINWEDEL AVIATION...MARSILI VISIT US AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/IWX (ALL LOWER CASE) FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK...TWITTER...AND YOUTUBE AT: WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/NWSNORTHERNINDIANA WWW.TWITTER.COM/NWSIWX WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/NWSNORTHERNINDIANA
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 540 PM EDT THU AUG 21 2014 INZ003-012>018-020-022>027-032>034-OHZ015-016-024-025-222145- LA PORTE-STARKE-PULASKI-MARSHALL-FULTON IN-KOSCIUSKO-WHITLEY- ALLEN IN-WHITE-CASS IN-MIAMI-WABASH-HUNTINGTON-WELLS-ADAMS-GRANT- BLACKFORD-JAY-PAULDING-PUTNAM-VAN WERT-ALLEN OH- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...MICHIGAN CITY...LA PORTE...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...PAULDING... ANTWERP...OTTAWA...PANDORA...VAN WERT...DELPHOS...LIMA 540 PM EDT THU AUG 21 2014 /440 PM CDT THU AUG 21 2014/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST OHIO AND NORTHERN INDIANA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY TONIGHT WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND MINOR FLOODING POSSIBLE. SOME STORMS MAY BE STRONG TO SEVERE ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE US ROUTE 30 CORRIDOR...WITH DAMAGING WINDS THE PRIMARY THREAT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY... AND AGAIN TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. SOME THUNDERSTORMS ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY COULD BE STRONG TO SEVERE. HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH AFTERNOON HEAT INDEX READINGS IN THE 90S EACH DAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS EVENING. && STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES...OR CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT WEATHER.GOV/IWX INZ004>009-MIZ077>081-OHZ001-002-004-005-222145- ST. JOSEPH IN-ELKHART-LAGRANGE-STEUBEN-NOBLE-DE KALB-BERRIEN-CASS MI- ST. JOSEPH MI-BRANCH-HILLSDALE-WILLIAMS-FULTON OH-DEFIANCE-HENRY- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...SOUTH BEND...MISHAWAKA...ELKHART... GOSHEN...LAGRANGE...TOPEKA...ANGOLA...KENDALLVILLE...LIGONIER... AUBURN...GARRETT...NILES...BENTON HARBOR...ST. JOSEPH...BUCHANAN... DOWAGIAC...CASSOPOLIS...STURGIS...THREE RIVERS...COLDWATER... HILLSDALE...BRYAN...MONTPELIER...WAUSEON...ARCHBOLD...DEFIANCE... NAPOLEON 540 PM EDT THU AUG 21 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN...NORTHERN INDIANA AND NORTHWEST OHIO. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY TONIGHT WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND MINOR FLOODING POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY... AND AGAIN TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. SOME THUNDERSTORMS ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY COULD BE STRONG TO SEVERE. HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH AFTERNOON HEAT INDEX READINGS IN THE 90S EACH DAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT LIKELY THIS EVENING. && STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES...OR CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT WEATHER.GOV/IWX LMZ043-046-222145- NEW BUFFALO MI TO ST JOSEPH MI-MICHIGAN CITY IN TO NEW BUFFALO MI- 540 PM EDT THU AUG 21 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE NEARSHORE WATERS OF SOUTHEASTERN LAKE MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY THIS EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY... AND AGAIN TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. SOME THUNDERSTORMS ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY COULD BE STRONG TO SEVERE. && STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES...OR CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT WEATHER.GOV/IWX/?N=MARINE
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
553 PM CDT THU AUG 21 2014
INZ003-012-013-212330-
LA PORTE IN-PULASKI IN-STARKE IN-
553 PM CDT THU AUG 21 2014
...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING TOWARD NORTHEASTERN PULASKI...
SOUTHWESTERN LA PORTE AND STARKE COUNTIES...
AT 551 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR LA CROSSE...OR 13 MILES WEST OF KNOX...
MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.
PEA 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...
KNOX...
WINAMAC...
NORTH JUDSON...MEDARYVILLE AND CLARKS...
TOTO AND BREMS...
DENHAM...
BASS LAKE...BEARDSTOWN AND WINONA...
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.
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM CDT
THURSDAY EVENING FOR NORTHERN INDIANA.
LAT...LON 4142 8694 4145 8692 4127 8648 4109 8648
4092 8649 4108 8694
TIME...MOT...LOC 2253Z 296DEG 28KT 4128 8685
BENTLEYThe Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 87 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:04 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
County officials reported a large tree was blown down at the intersection of State Routes 8 and 39.
A trained spotter reported a 14 inch diameter tree was blown down.
Six to locally over 10 inches of rain fell in a several hour period across mainly southern parts of the county. Many county and state roads were closed due to several feet of water flowing over roadways. Numerous vehicles were stranded in flood waters with rescues needed. A CoCoRaHS site northwest of Hartford City recorded 10.63 inches of rain.
Six to eight inches of rain fell over a six hour period, from Marion southeast to the county line. Numerous vehicles were stranded in high water with several feet of water flowing over local roads. A two mile stretch of Interstate 69, between mile markers 263 and 265, was closed in both directions for several hours due to high flowing water. No injuries or fatalities were reported as a result of the flooding.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Indiana in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Indiana, August 2014
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: 540443, 540444, 540446, 540445.