The remnants of a complex of thunderstorms that moved through Illinois entered a moderately unstable and sheared environment across northern Indiana. Precipitable water values were running high, allowing for an increased threat of wet microbursts.
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.
The remnants of a complex of thunderstorms that moved through Illinois entered a moderately unstable and sheared environment across northern Indiana. Precipitable water values were running high, allowing for an increased threat of wet microbursts. Several of these occurred, producing localized 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 Northern Indiana wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 8, 2:35 PM EST, 1 hour 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 335 PM EDT FRI MAY 8 2015 .SYNOPSIS... ISSUED AT 335 PM EDT FRI MAY 8 2015 SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE AREA THIS EVENING AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES OVER THE REGION. LOWS TONIGHT WILL REMAIN IN THE 60S. STEADY RAIN WILL TAPER OFF BY EARLY SATURDAY MORNING WITH JUST A LOW CHANCE OF SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE DAY. HIGHS ON SATURDAY WILL GENERALLY BE IN THE 70S. && .SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH SATURDAY) ISSUED AT 335 PM EDT FRI MAY 8 2015 AFTERNOON WATER VAPOR SHOWS A ROBUST SHORTWAVE...SPAWNED BY CONVECTION OVER THE SOUTHERN PLAINS YESTERDAY...LIFTING NORTHEAST INTO OUR AREA. RADAR MOSAIC SHOWS A DECENT LINE OF CONVECTION ALONG THIS FEATURE...WITH A FEW STORMS POPPING UP AHEAD OF IT IN MODERATELY UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENT. THIS ACTIVITY WILL CONTINUE TO SLOWLY LIFT NORTHEAST INTO THE EVENING...FOLLOWING BAROCLINIC ZONE DRAPED JUST TO OUR WEST. THIS FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL NOT MAKE MUCH EASTWARD PROGRESS THROUGH THE EVENING THOUGH...GIVEN PERSISTENT/"BLOCKY" RIDGING OVER THE EASTERN CONUS AND APPROACHING MCV THAT ACTUALLY SEEMS TO SPAWN A MODEST SURFACE REFLECTION. BEST CHANCES FOR RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL THEREFORE BE GENERALLY CONFINED TO OUR NORTHWEST HALF. COULD POTENTIALLY BE SOME HEAVY RAIN IN THOSE AREAS AS WELL WITH PW VALUES SLATED TO APPROACH OR EXCEED 1.7 INCHES AND GOOD LOW/MIDLEVEL DEFORMATION FORCING. WITH THE ADDED CONVECTIVE COMPONENT...ISOLATED AREAS COULD RECEIVE OVER AN INCH BY LATE TONIGHT. SEVERE THREAT APPEARS LOW. ATMOSPHERE WILL BEGIN TO STABILIZE BY THE TIME THE BETTER FORCING/SHEAR ARRIVE. LATEST SPC/RAP MESOANALYSIS SHOWS MLCAPE AROUND 1500 J/KG JUST TO OUR SOUTHWEST BUT 0-6KM BULK SHEAR VALUES ARE AROUND 25 KTS OR LESS. AN ISOLATED PULSE SEVERE STORM/WET MICROBURST MAY BE POSSIBLE IN OUR WEST/SOUTHWEST COUNTIES LATE THIS AFTERNOON BUT CHANCES FOR WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER ARE LOW. (SEE LATEST SWODY1 AND SWOMCD FOR OUR AREA). BULK OF THIS ACTIVITY SHOULD END AROUND 06Z. SEVERAL OF THE LATEST MODELS (BOTH HI-RES AND SPECTRAL) SUGGEST OUR CWA WILL REMAIN MOSTLY DRY FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH TOMORROW AS SYNOPTIC FORCING LIFTS NORTH AND LOW LEVEL MOISTURE/INSTABILITY AXIS IS SHUNTED SOUTH. SUSPECT THERE WILL BE A FAIR AMOUNT OF SUBSIDENCE BEHIND TONIGHT'S WAVE AND HAVE MADE SOME SIGNIFICANT CUTS TO POPS FOR TOMORROW IN ANTICIPATION OF LOW LEVEL RIDGE/THETA-E TROUGH SINKING SOUTHWARD IN THE WAKE OF EXITING CONVECTION. DID LEAVE IN SOME LOW CHANCE POPS FOR NOW THOUGH...ALLOWING LATER SHIFTS TO FINE-TUNE AS CONVECTIVE TRENDS UNFOLD TONIGHT. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE AREA THIS EVENING AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES OVER THE REGION. LOWS TONIGHT WILL REMAIN IN THE 60S. STEADY RAIN WILL TAPER OFF BY EARLY SATURDAY MORNING WITH JUST A LOW CHANCE OF SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE DAY. HIGHS ON SATURDAY WILL GENERALLY BE IN THE 70S. && .LONG TERM...(SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY) ISSUED AT 335 PM EDT FRI MAY 8 2015 12Z GFS AN OUTLIER WITH FRONTAL BOUNDARY SAGGING TO THE OH VALLEY BY SUNDAY MORNING WHILE LATEST NAM/GEM/ECMWF ALL SUGGEST IT WILL STALL OUT OVER CENTRAL INDIANA SAT EVE AND THEN LIFT NORTH TO SRN MI BY SUNDAY EVE AS LOW PRESSURE MOVES NE FROM THE CENTRAL PLAINS. FRONTAL CONVERGENCE ALONG WITH LEAD SHRTWV LIFTING NE TO NWRN INDIANA BY 12Z SUNDAY AND TO LAKE HURON BY 00Z MONDAY SHOULD PROVIDE SOME WK FORCING IN MOIST AIRMASS TO SUPPORT SCT SHOWERS/TSTMS... MAINLY NW SAT NGT... AND ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA SUNDAY AS DIURNAL INSTABILITY SHOULD ENHANCE COVERAGE/INTENSITY OF CONVECTION. LAKE COOLING EXPECTED TO ENHANCE GENERALLY WK POST FRONTAL CAA SAT NGT ALLOWING FOR A WIDE RANGE OF TEMPS FROM THE U40S/L50S FAR NW TO THE L60S SE. DIURNAL HEATING SUNDAY EXPECTED TO BE LIMITED BY CONSIDERABLE CLOUDINESS AND SHOWERS... BUT SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT GIVEN WARM AIRMASS IN PLACE FOR HIGHS IN THE U70S/L80S. CONVERGENCE ALONG WARM FRONT MAY CONT TO SUPPORT SOME SHOWERS/TSTMS IN THE AREA SUNDAY NIGHT... WITH BEST CHANCES ACROSS NRN PORTION OF THE CWA... CLOSER TO THE FRONT. LOW EXPECTED TO LIFT NE ACROSS THE UPR GRTLKS MON-MON NGT WITH TRAILING CDFNT SWEEPING ACROSS OUR AREA. WK-MODERATE INSTABILITY EXPECTED AHEAD OF THE FRONT WITH DEEP LAYER SHEAR BECOMING SUFFICIENT FOR ORGANIZED STORMS... SO SLIGHT CHC OF SVR STORMS WITH GREATEST UNCERTAINTY BEING AMOUNT OF DESTABILIZATION ACROSS OUR AREA. STRONG CAA BEHIND THIS LOW SHOULD SUPPORT MUCH COOLER/BREEZY CONDITIONS TUE. STRONG HIGH PRESSURE EXPECTED TO MOVE SLOWLY E-SE ACROSS THE GRTLKS WED-THU RESULTING IN DRY CONDITIONS. TEMPS SHOULD BEGIN TO MODIFY THU AS THE HIGH MOVES TO THE EAST OF THE AREA AND WAA DEVELOPS. MEDIUM RANGE MODELS DIFFER CONSIDERABLY ON WHEN MOISTURE WILL RETURN TO THE AREA ON BACKSIDE OF THE RIDGE. FOR NOW FOLLOWED MODEL CONSENSUS BLEND WITH SLIGHT CHC OF SHOWERS FRI AND TEMPS WARMING TO AROUND NORMAL IN THE L70S. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SATURDAY AFTERNOON) ISSUED AT 140 PM EDT FRI MAY 8 2015 THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING ALONG AND AHEAD OF A STRONG SHORTWAVE LIFTING NORTHEAST. ATMOSPHERE IS MODERATELY UNSTABLE AND EXPECT STORMS TO CONTINUE TO EXPAND NORTHEAST THROUGH THE AFTERNOON... ARRIVING AT KSBN AROUND 20-21Z. KFWA WILL BE ON THE SOUTHEAST EDGE OF THE MAIN ACTIVITY. SCT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE BUT THE HEAVIER RAIN AND REDUCED FLIGHT CATEGORY WILL MAINLY IMPACT KSBN THROUGH THE EVENING. LATEST MODELS INDICATING THAT A MOISTURE-LADEN INVERSION MAY SET UP LATE TONIGHT... POTENTIALLY YIELDING IFR CONDITIONS. CONFIDENCE IS NOT HIGH AND WILL DEPEND ON HOW CONVECTION EVOLVES THIS EVENING. WILL KEEP MVFR FOR NOW AND LET LATER SHIFTS UPDATE AS NECESSARY. && .IWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IN...NONE. MI...NONE. OH...NONE. LM...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...AGD SHORT TERM...AGD LONG TERM...JT AVIATION...AGD 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 926 AM EDT FRI MAY 8 2015 INZ003>009-012>018-020-022>027-032>034-MIZ077>081-OHZ001-002-004-005- 015-016-024-025-091330- 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 926 AM EDT FRI MAY 8 2015 /826 AM CDT FRI MAY 8 2015/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST OHIO... SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN AND NORTHERN INDIANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE IS A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT. SEVERE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY. THERE IS A CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER ON MONDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY INTO TONIGHT. && STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES...OR CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT WEATHER.GOV/IWX LMZ043-046-091330- NEW BUFFALO MI TO ST JOSEPH MI-MICHIGAN CITY IN TO NEW BUFFALO MI- 926 AM EDT FRI MAY 8 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE NEARSHORE WATERS OF SOUTHEASTERN LAKE MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE IS A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT. SEVERE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AT TIMES SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY. SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY BE SEVERE ON MONDAY. && 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
419 PM EDT FRI MAY 8 2015
INZ003-004-012-014-082045-
LA PORTE IN-MARSHALL IN-ST. JOSEPH IN-STARKE IN-
419 PM EDT FRI MAY 8 2015
...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING TOWARD ST. JOSEPH COUNTY...
AT 415 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR WALKERTON...OR 12 MILES NORTHWEST OF
PLYMOUTH...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
ONE HALF INCH DIAMETER HAIL...WINDS UP TO 40 MPH...OCCASIONAL CLOUD
TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS
STORM.
LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...
SOUTH BEND...
NORTH LIBERTY...
TEEGARDEN...
FISH LAKE...
CRUMSTOWN...LYDICK AND CHAIN-O-LAKES...
THIS INCLUDES INTERSTATE 80 90 IN INDIANA BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 66 AND
72.
GUSTY WINDS MAY CAUSE SMALL OBJECTS SUCH AS TRASH BINS 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 4176 8644 4176 8641 4166 8617 4134 8644
4143 8665
TIME...MOT...LOC 2018Z 209DEG 21KT 4147 8649The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 48 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:41 UTC.
4 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The public reported a tree snapped at the base and fell onto a power line.
Emergency management officials reported several trees and tree limbs down in Bourbon. A few of these fell onto homes and power lines. No injuries were reported.
A trained spotter estimated wind gusts to 65 mph with a wet microburst. Pea size hail was also observed.
The public reported a measured wind gust of 60 mph as well as a old bank barn collapsing.
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: 581541, 581539, 581538, 581540.