A north-south oriented line of showers and thunderstorms developed across western Indiana as warm, moist air increased across the area during the early afternoon hours of May the 26th. As these storms pushed northeast into east-central Indiana during the middle to late afternoon, one moved over Henry County causing wind damage.
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 north-south oriented line of showers and thunderstorms developed across western Indiana as warm, moist air increased across the area during the early afternoon hours of May the 26th. As these storms pushed northeast into east-central Indiana during the middle to late afternoon, one moved over Henry County causing wind damage.
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 May 26, 1:43 PM EST, 47 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 243 PM EDT TUE MAY 26 2015 .UPDATE... THE SYNOPSIS...NEAR TERM AND SHORT TERM SECTIONS HAVE BEEN UPDATED BELOW. && .SYNOPSIS... ISSUED AT 241 PM EDT TUE MAY 26 2015 UNSETTLED CONDITIONS EXPECTED INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK AS OCCASIONAL UPPER DISTURBANCES MOVE OVER THE AREA...RESULTING IN PERIODIC CHANCES FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. && .NEAR TERM /REST OF THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT/... ISSUED AT 241 PM EDT TUE MAY 26 2015 UPPER TROUGH CURRENTLY MOVING THROUGH THE AREA RESULTING IN BANDS OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. INSTABILITY AXIS CURRENTLY LOCATED OVER EASTERN INDIANA AHEAD OF INITIAL LINE...SO THINK THE BEST POTENTIAL FOR STRONG CONVECTION WILL BE IN THOSE AREAS. DEEP LAYER SHEAR ADEQUATE FOR THE POTENTIAL FOR HIGH WINDS TO MIX DOWN WITH STRONGER CONVECTION...ALTHOUGH LAPSE RATES REMAIN POOR. APPEARS SHORT WAVE TROUGH WILL EXIT THE AREA AROUND 262300Z...SO CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL SHOULD DIMINISH BE THEN. SOME OF THE HIGHER RESOLUTION MODEL DATA SUGGEST SOME ADDITIONAL CONVECTION POSSIBLE LATER THIS EVENING AS ANOTHER VORTICITY LOBE ROTATES THROUGH. THEREFORE...WILL KEEP CHANCE POPS GOING IN THE FORECAST UNTIL ABOUT 270400Z WHEN THIS LOBE PASSES BY. APPEARS THE REST OF THE NIGHT WILL BE DRY IN THE WAKE OF THESE WAVES. LOW LEVEL THICKNESSES SUGGEST THE GFS MOS LOWS TONIGHT LOOK REASONABLE. && .SHORT TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... ISSUED AT 241 PM EDT TUE MAY 26 2015 MODEL DATA SUGGEST UPPER FLOW WILL FLATTEN OUT FOR AWHILE DURING THIS PERIOD BEFORE UPPER RIDGE REESTABLISHES ITSELF OVER THE EASTERN PARTS OF THE COUNTRY BY THE END OF THE WEEK. A WEAK FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA DURING THE DAY WEDNESDAY BEFORE WASHING OUT LATER THIS WEEK. INSTABILITY SHOULD BE HIGHER ON WEDNESDAY AS LAPSE RATES STEEPEN QUITE A BIT...ALTHOUGH DEEP LAYER SHEAR WILL BE WEAKER TOMORROW COMPARED TO TODAY. AS A RESULT...WILL GO WITH CHANCE POPS ON WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT. APPEARS THE LOWEST POTENTIAL FOR CONVECTION DURING THIS PERIOD WILL BE ON THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT AS FRONT DISSIPATES AND UPPER HEIGHTS BEGIN TO BUILD AGAIN. MODELS INDICATE THE INSTABILITY AXIS WILL BE LOCATED NEAR THE OHIO RIVER ON THURSDAY...SO WILL RESTRICT THE POPS ON THURSDAY TO THE SOUTHERN ZONES...CLOSED TO PROGGED INSTABILITY AXIS. WILL BRING CHANCE POPS BACK INTO THE AREA BY FRIDAY AS MODELS SUGGEST ANOTHER UPPER WAVE MAY EJECT OUT OF THE ROCKIES TROUGH TOWARDS THE LOCAL AREA. BASED ON PROGGED LOW LEVEL THICKNESSES...THE GFS MOS TEMPERATURE GUIDANCE LOOKS REASONABLE FOR THE MOST PART...WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE LOWS WEDNESDAY NIGHT...WHICH LOOK TOO COOL. WILL RAISE THE GUIDANCE 3-5 DEGREES IN THAT PERIOD. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/... ISSUED AT 221 PM EDT TUE MAY 26 2015 THE PERIOD WILL BEGIN WITH A SURFACE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM LOCATED OVER EASTERN CANADA WITH A TRAILING COLD FRONT EXTENDING FROM THE UPPER MIDWEST AND SOUTHWESTWARD. THIS COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP ACROSS CENTRAL INDIANA SATURDAY AFTERNOON...CAUSING TEMPERATURES TO DROP BELOW NORMAL SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT BEFORE REBOUNDING BACK TO NEAR NORMAL TO CLOSE OUT THE PERIOD. RAIN SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM CHANCES AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT WILL TURN INTO LIKELY CHANCES AS THE FRONT APPROACHES AND PASSES. THEN A SLOW MOVING UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL APPROACH THE FIVE STATE REGION BEGINNING SUNDAY MORNING...PROLONGING THE UNSETTLED PATTERN THROUGH THE END OF THE PERIOD. && .AVIATION /DISCUSSION FOR THE 261800Z TAFS/... ISSUED AT 1245 PM EDT TUE MAY 26 2015 VFR CONDITIONS WILL DETERIORATE TO MVFR OR WORSE THIS AFTERNOON. MVFR FOG WILL BE POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT. A RETURN TO VFR IS EXPECTED ON WEDNESDAY MORNING. SHORT WAVE OVER EASTERN ILLINOIS AND WESTERN KENTUCKY WAS PUSHING NORTHEAST. A WARM AND MOIST AIR MASS AHEAD OF THIS FEATURE WAS ALLOW TSRA TO DEVELOP ALONG AND AHEAD OF THIS FEATURE. FURTHER TSRA DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AS TEMP WARM. SHORT WAVE SHOULD PASS BY LATE AFTERNOON...EARLY EVENING. THUS HAVE A WINDS OF VCTS WITH TEMPS GROUPS FOR TSRA THIS AFTERNOON. PRECIP IS EXPECTED TO END TOWARD 00Z AS THE SHORT WAVE DEPARTS. SOME MVFR FOG WILL BE POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT AS THE EXPECTED RAIN AND WARM AIR MASS IN PLACE PROVIDES AN GOOD SET UP FOR FOG DEVELOPMENT. AFTER MORNING FOG BURNS OFF AFTER SUNRISE...FORECAST SOUNDINGS ON WEDNESDAY SHOW STEEP LAPSE RATES FAVORABLE FOR CONVECTION ONCE AGAIN IN THE AFTERNOON. && .IND WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && SYNOPSIS...JAS NEAR TERM...JAS SHORT TERM...JAS LONG TERM....MMB/PUMA AVIATION...JP VISIT US AT HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/IND FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK...TWITTER AND YOUTUBE AT: WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/NWSINDIANAPOLIS WWW.TWITTER.COM/NWSINDIANAPOLIS WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/NWSINDIANAPOLIS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 522 AM EDT TUE MAY 26 2015 INZ021-028>031-035>049-051>057-060>065-067>072-270930- 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- 522 AM EDT TUE MAY 26 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL INDIANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. OUTLOOK: POSSIBLE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. HAZARDS: DAMAGING WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...HEAVY DOWNPOURS...ISOLATED TORNADOES. TIMING: THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. DISCUSSION: ANY OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES ASSOCIATED WITH A SURFACE LOW OVER THE UPPER MIDWEST COULD TRIGGER STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WHEN ENTERING AN UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENT ACROSS CENTRAL INDIANA LATER TODAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. OUTLOOK: THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE FROM WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. IT IS TOO EARLY TO DETERMINE IF ANY OF THESE STORMS WILL BE SEVERE...BUT LIGHTNING AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN ARE POSSIBLE WITH ANY STORM. DISCUSSION: UPPER LEVEL SYSTEMS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA AT TIMES THROUGH THE WEEK AND INTERACT WITH A WARM...MOIST AND UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE. THIS WILL GENERATE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS CENTRAL INDIANA THROUGH THE WEEKEND. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. && MORE INFORMATION...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND...AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/IND (ALL LOWERCASE) TDUD
The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 89 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:32 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
One end of a pole barn was pushed in along with several tree limbs downed due to damaging thunderstorm wind gusts. This event occurred near the intersection of County Roads 200 North and 500 East, east of Hillsboro.
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, May 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: 580279.