The remnants of Tropical Storm Gordon interacted with a surface front to produce widespread heavy rain across much of central Indiana. The moisture content of the atmosphere was very high.
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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.
The remnants of Tropical Storm Gordon interacted with a surface front to produce widespread heavy rain across much of central Indiana. The moisture content of the atmosphere was very high. Precipitable water, a measure of moisture content in the atmosphere, is normally around 1 inch for early September in Indiana. Precipitable water amounts approached 2 inches for parts of the area on September 8th. Heavy rainfall of 1 to 4 inches fell on the 7th of September, while the 72-hour total rainfall amounts ending the morning of September 9th came in between 4 and 6 inches were common with some locally higher amounts. This caused some flash flooding to occur.
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 Sep 7, 9:45 AM EST, 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Indianapolis IN 1045 AM EDT Fri Sep 7 2018 .UPDATE... The NEAR TERM and AVIATION Sections have been updated below. && .SYNOPSIS... Issued at 238 AM EDT Fri Sep 7 2018 The remnants of Gordon will lift northeast across central Indiana Saturday night and Sunday. This will result in widespread showers and thunderstorms with heavy rain and flooding expected for the weekend. After that, high pressure will bring mostly dry weather to the area next week. Temperatures will be below normal this weekend and return to near normal by the middle of next week. && .NEAR TERM /Rest of Today/... Issued at 1045 AM EDT Fri Sep 7 2018 Rain with embedded thunder has largely focused over the northern half of central Indiana so far this morning...with multiple areas having already received 1-2 inches of rain. Under thick clouds temperatures ranged from the upper 60s to mid 70s as of 1430Z. Expect rain and storms to continue to generate and eventually encompass more of the forecast area to the south as we head into the afternoon with a continued influx of rich tropical moisture into the Ohio Valley. Model soundings show a saturated airmass up to at least 15kft with an exceptionally high freezing level near 14kft. That would also ensure that warm rain processes are in play not just for any convection today but into the weekend as the remnants of Gordon arrive. Have bumped up pops across the board for the afternoon with cat pops now north of I-70. Rainfall could easily be up to 2 inches if not higher in spots today...simply priming the ground for the more substantial flooding and heavy rain concerns over the weekend. Lowered high temps a few degrees as well today. Do not see much movement in temperatures from current readings considering rain and cloud cover. Zone and grid updates out. && .SHORT TERM...(Tonight through Sunday night) Issued at 238 AM EDT Fri Sep 7 2018 Models and ensembles are in good agreement that the remnants of Gordon will produce widespread heavy rain and thunderstorms over central Indiana this weekend with the highest QPF Saturday and Saturday night. That said, the 12z ECMWF looked too quick to move the center of Gordon through the area and looks to be too far north with the axis of highest QPF. Prefer a non-Euro model and ensemble blend. Likely to categorical blend PoPs also looks through Sunday with lingering small chance PoPs by Sunday night as the system departs to the east. The instability progs do not support much in the way of lightning, but still it can not be ruled out most periods. Latest WPC Day 1 through Day 5 QPF paints a widespread 3 to 6 inch storm total QPF which looks reasonable and lends high confidence in the Flash Flood Watch Saturday through Sunday. With the widespread cloud cover and showers, good confidence in the well below normal blend. Northern sections may not see 70 degrees Saturday and Sunday. && .LONG TERM /Monday through Friday/... Issued at 315 AM EDT Fri Sep 7 2018 The long term portion of the forecast looks largely dry, which will be welcome after a weekend of potentially flooding rains. Models are in general agreement that the remnants of Gordon will be rapidly exiting the area and thus will go dry on Monday. The GFS does produce precipitation over portions of the area, but forecast profiles show a substantial midlevel subsidence inversion which would suggest this is overdone. Models agree in an overall pattern of high pressure aloft with a displacement of the prevailing westerlies to the north. GFS produces a suspicious Rex block pattern that is both positionally and climatologically out of place, and will generally discount that for this package and remove the low pops it produces mid to late week. Temperatures should begin the period below normal and steadily climb back to near or slightly above normals by mid to late week. && .AVIATION /Discussion for the 071500Z TAF Update/... Issued at 1045 AM EDT Fri Sep 7 2018 Seeing IFR ceilings already at KIND and KLAF and have inserted for the next few hours. Expect restrictions all day...gradually getting worse tonight. 12Z discussion follows. SREF, GFS LAMP and trends suggest mostly MVFR conditions in showers from the remnants of Gordon. However, there could be a brief period through around 14z with IFR conditions. Also, would not rule out brief VFR after 16z. Winds will generally be east and northeast to 10 knots. && .IND WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Flash Flood Watch from Saturday morning through Sunday evening for INZ021-028>031-035>049-051>057-060>065-067>072. && SYNOPSIS...MK NEAR TERM...Ryan SHORT TERM...MK LONG TERM...Nield AVIATION...MK/Ryan
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Indianapolis IN 449 AM EDT Fri Sep 7 2018 INZ021-028>031-035>049-051>057-060>065-067>072-080900- 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- Including the cities of Lafayette, Frankfort, Kokomo, Crawfordsville, Anderson, Muncie, Indianapolis, Terre Haute, Shelbyville, Bloomington, Columbus, Vincennes, Bedford, and Seymour 449 AM EDT Fri Sep 7 2018 This hazardous weather outlook is for central Indiana. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight. Outlook: Showers are likely with embedded thunderstorms. Hazards: Lightning, heavy rain, flooding. Timing: Through tonight. Discussion: A nearby front and the increasing influence of tropical remnants will produce showers and thunderstorms today and tonight, which may produce heavy rain and flooding. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday. Outlook: Heavy rainfall amounts are expected through Sunday, which could lead to flash flooding this weekend. River flooding will likely develop along some rivers by early next week, with significant flooding possible. Thunderstorm activity is possible at times through Sunday. Severe storms are not expected at this time. Discussion: A stalled out front combined with the remnants of Tropical Storm Gordon will bring rain to central Indiana late this week into the weekend. Heavy rain is likely which could cause flooding. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotters are encouraged to report rainfall amounts and any observed flooding through the weekend. && More information, along with other weather, hydrological and climate information can be found at http://weather.gov/ind
The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 92 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:00 UTC.
3 flash flood, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
There were numerous reports of flash flooding across Muncie due to heavy rainfall.
Water was reported to be over the road in spots in Lynn due to heavy rainfall.
Several small roads had water flowing over them in and around the city of Lacy due to heavy rainfall.
Standing water was observed over portions of the south split of Interstate 65 and 70 due to heavy rainfall.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Indiana in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Indiana, September 2018
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: 787322, 787789, 787806, 787813.