A front remained near central Indiana during the period December 26 to 28. Unseasonably warm and humid air on the south side of the front combined with the front and an area of low pressure brought periods of rain during the period.
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.
A front remained near central Indiana during the period December 26 to 28. Unseasonably warm and humid air on the south side of the front combined with the front and an area of low pressure brought periods of rain during the period. Some of the rain was heavy at times. Through the period, central Indiana received 2 to 6 inches of rain.
This resulted in flooding of small streams, creeks, and low lying areas. Some roads were closed due to high water. The water quickly flowed into rivers, resulting in flooding of the rivers. The river flooding impacted numerous local and state roads, agricultural land, and a few residential areas.
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 Dec 27, 3:27 AM EST, 2 hours 3 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 327 AM EST SUN DEC 27 2015 .UPDATE... THE AVIATION SECTION HAS BEEN UPDATED BELOW. && .SYNOPSIS... ISSUED AT 312 AM EST SUN DEC 27 2015 A STRONG FRONT ROUGHLY FROM THE GREAT LAKES TO TEXAS WILL RIPPLE BACK AND FORTH FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS. THIS MEANS IT WILL BE NORTH OF CENTRAL INDIANA SOMETIMES...AND TO OUR SOUTH AT OTHERS. EXPECT UNSETTLED WEATHER BECAUSE OF THIS. A BIG CHANGE WILL COME STARTING WEDNESDAY AS A HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE BUILDS FROM THE CENTRAL ROCKIES...TO INDIANA...TO THE EAST COAST. FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY A COLD FRONT IS PREDICTED TO CROSS THE HOOSIER STATE FROM THE NORTHWEST. && .NEAR TERM /TODAY/... ISSUED AT 312 AM EST SUN DEC 27 2015 HE MODELS CONTINUE TO AGREE TODAY WILL HAVE RAIN...WHICH MAY BE HEAVY...AND POSSIBLY THUNDERSTORMS. THE TEMPERATURE FORECAST IS VERY DIFFICULT. THINGS WILL BE DRIVEN BY A STRONG GRADIENT ACROSS A FRONT IN THE AREA. THE POWERFUL BLENDED FORECAST SHOULD WORK AS WELL AS ANYTHING && .SHORT TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT/... ISSUED AT 312 AM EST SUN DEC 27 2015 THERE IS DECENT CONCURRENCE AMONG THE MODELS...AND SOLUTIONS HAVE BEEN FAIRLY STABLE OVER TIME. THAT IS RAIN CONTINUING INTO MONDAY NIGHT BUT DRY WEATHER DEVELOPING BY TUESDAY. THERE IS ALSO AGREEMENT PRECIPITABLE WATER AND INSTABILITY WILL SUPPORT HEAVY RAIN AND A CHANCE OF THUNDER THROUGH TOMORROW. BLENDED TEMPERATURES ARE REASONABLY WELL SUPPORTED BY THE DETERMINISTIC FIELDS.CONFIDENCE IN THE TEMPERATURE FORECAST IS REDUCED BY THE FACT STRONG GRADIENTS WILL BE IN THE AREA FOR MOST OF THE PERIOD. MOST INDICATIONS ARE TONIGHT AND MONDAY WILL BE TOO WARM FOR FREEZING RAIN. HOWEVER AS CHICAGO POINTS OUT...GIVEN UNCERTAINTY ITS BEST TO HAVE A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR IT WHERE FORECAST TEMPERATURES ARE 33 OR LESS. ALL THE GUIDANCE BRINGS THE WIND UP STRONGLY FOR LATE TONIGHT AND MONDAY. IN PRECIPITATION AT THIS TIME OF YEAR ITS HARD TO GET ENOUGH MIXING TO PRODUCE REALLY STRONG GUSTS...BUT THE DAY CREW MAY NEED TO ISSUE AN NPW DEPENDING THE 12Z GUIDANCE. && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH NEXT SATURDAY/... ISSUED AT 235 AM EST SUN DEC 27 2015 ENSEMBLES SUGGEST MEAN UPPER TROUGH THAT IS EXPECTED TO BE LOCATED IN THE PLAINS BY THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK WILL PROGRESS INTO THE EASTERN STATES BY NEXT WEEKEND. APPEARS THE ONLY PRECIPITATION THREAT DURING THIS PERIOD WILL ON WEDNESDAY WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE UPPER TROUGH. MOST OF THE DEEP MOISTURE LOOKS TO BE TIED UP FARTHER SOUTH...SO ANY PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS SHOULD BE LIGHT. WILL CONTINUE WITH SMALL CHANCES FOR LIGHT MIXED PRECIPITATION WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT. ENSEMBLES SUGGEST LITTLE PRECIPITATION THREAT BEYOND WEDNESDAY...SO WILL CONTINUE WITH A DRY FORECAST FOR THE REST OF THE EXTENDED. && .AVIATION /DISCUSSION FOR THE 270900Z KIND TAF UPDATE/... ISSUED AT 327 AM EST SUN DEC 27 2015 COLD FRONT HAS PASSED THROUGH THE KIND VICINITY...SO WILL MAKE SOME ADJUSTMENTS TO THE WIND FORECAST AS A RESULT. DUE TO THE FRONTAL PASSAGE...THE POTENTIAL FOR LIFR VISIBILITY RESTRICTIONS HAS DIMINISHED DUE TO THE INCREASE IN WIND SPEEDS. THREAT FOR EMBEDDED LIGHTNING STRIKES EXPECTED TO CONTINUE INTO THE MID MORNING HOURS BASED ON WHAT IS UPSTREAM. PREVIOUS DISCUSSION FOLLOWS. IFR CONDITIONS CONTINUE ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA. RADAR SHOWS RAIN THAT EXTENDS SWWD INTO MO AND IT LOOKS LIKE COME CONVECTIVE SEGMENTS ARE MOVING ENEWD ALONG THE SRN EDGES JUST SOUTH OF THE QUASI STATIONARY FRONTAL BOUNDARY. THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE SLOWLY SWD WITH TIME...THUS KEEPING MOST STATIONS IFR/OCCASIONAL LIFR WITH RA... POSSIBLY SOME -TSRA...AND LOW VISISBILITIES. && .HYDROLOGY.../FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH 24Z MONDAY/... ISSUED AT 312 AM EST SUN DEC 27 2015 THE THREAT OF HEAVY RAIN CONTINUES. ALL MODELS HAVE PERIODS OF EXTREMELY HIGH PRECIPITABLE WATER AND GOOD FORCING ALONG A FRONTAL BOUNDARY FOR THE DURATION OF THE WATCH. LATEST GUIDANCE SUGGESTS THE GREATEST THREAT OF HEAVY RAIN WILL BE IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF CENTRAL INDIANA TODAY...THE NORTH LATE TONIGHT...AND THE ENTIRE AREA MONDAY. && .IND WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH MONDAY EVENING FOR INZ021-028>031- 035>049-051>057-060>065-067>072. && SYNOPSIS...JK NEAR TERM...JK SHORT TERM...JK LONG TERM....JAS AVIATION...DWM/JAS HYDROLOGY...JK
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 348 PM EST SAT DEC 26 2015 INZ021-028>031-035>049-271100- CARROLL-WARREN-TIPPECANOE-CLINTON-HOWARD-FOUNTAIN-MONTGOMERY-BOONE- TIPTON-HAMILTON-MADISON-DELAWARE-RANDOLPH-VERMILLION-PARKE-PUTNAM- HENDRICKS-MARION-HANCOCK-HENRY- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...LAFAYETTE...FRANKFORT...KOKOMO... CRAWFORDSVILLE...ANDERSON...MUNCIE...INDIANAPOLIS 348 PM EST SAT DEC 26 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL INDIANA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. OUTLOOK: HEAVY RAIN...THUNDERSTORMS AND FLOODING ARE POSSIBLE. HAZARDS: FLOODING. LIGHTNING AND GUSTY WINDS IN THUNDERSTORMS. TIMING: THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. DISCUSSION: SOUTHWESTERLY LOW LEVEL FLOW OFF THE GULF OF MEXICO AND A WARM FRONT OVER THE AREA WILL BRING WIDESPREAD RAIN AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS TO THE AREA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. OUTLOOK: HEAVY RAIN IS POSSIBLE AT TIMES THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT. SNOW IS POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY NIGHT. NO ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED. DISCUSSION: A STRONG FRONT OVER INDIANA WILL FINALLY MOVE AWAY MONDAY NIGHT. AFTER THAT THERE SHOULD BE EITHER BE DRY WEATHER OR ONLY LIGHT PRECIPITATION AS WELL AS COLDER TEMPERATURES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. && MORE INFORMATION...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND...AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/IND (ALL LOWERCASE) INZ051>057-060>065-067>072-271100- VIGO-CLAY-OWEN-MORGAN-JOHNSON-SHELBY-RUSH-SULLIVAN-GREENE-MONROE- BROWN-BARTHOLOMEW-DECATUR-KNOX-DAVIESS-MARTIN-LAWRENCE-JACKSON- JENNINGS- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...TERRE HAUTE...SHELBYVILLE...BLOOMINGTON... COLUMBUS...VINCENNES...BEDFORD...SEYMOUR 348 PM EST SAT DEC 26 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL INDIANA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. OUTLOOK:HEAVY RAIN...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND FLOODING ARE ALL POSSIBLE. HAZARDS: FLOODING. LIGHTNING AND ISOLATED DAMAGING WINDS IN THUNDERSTORMS. TIMING: THUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE ANY TIME. DAMAGING WINDS THIS EVENING. DISCUSSION: SOUTHWESTERLY LOW LEVEL FLOW OFF THE GULF OF MEXICO AND A WARM FRONT OVER THE AREA WILL BRING WIDESPREAD RAIN AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS TO THE AREA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. OUTLOOK: THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY. HEAVY RAIN IS POSSIBLE AT TIMES THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT. SNOW IS POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY NIGHT. HOWEVER...NO ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED. DISCUSSION: A STRONG FRONT OVER INDIANA WILL FINALLY MOVE AWAY MONDAY NIGHT. AFTER THAT THERE SHOULD BE EITHER BE DRY WEATHER OR ONLY LIGHT PRECIPITATION AS WELL AS COLDER TEMPERATURES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. && MORE INFORMATION...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND...AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/IND (ALL LOWERCASE)
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flooding due to heavy rainfall on County Road 100 South, just east of County Road 900 East in Hendricks County. Flooding was also observed on County Line Road between County Road 100 South and Highway 40 around 5:30 AM.
Old Paris Road on the Illinois state line was closed due to Sugar Creek flooding from heavy rainfall.
Numerous automated small stream gages in the Indianapolis metro area indicated minor to significant flooding in progress late Sunday morning due to heavy rainfall.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Indiana in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Indiana, December 2015
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: 613502, 613503, 613504.