During the afternoon and evening hours of August 3rd, widespread thunderstorms moved over much of Indiana. One of these thunderstorms damaged a large tree via a lightning strike.
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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.
During the afternoon and evening hours of August 3rd, widespread thunderstorms moved over much of Indiana. One of these thunderstorms damaged a large tree via a lightning strike. The 1 to 3 inches of rain caused brief flooding, but only limited impacts were noted.
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 Aug 3, 3:27 PM EST, 27 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Indianapolis IN 427 PM EDT Mon Aug 3 2020 .UPDATE... The AVIATION Section has been updated below. && .SYNOPSIS... Issued at 300 PM EDT Mon Aug 3 2020 Rain and storms will come to an end this evening as an upper level trough and associated surface frontal boundary move east of central Indiana. Dry and cool weather will then take over through midweek with a slow warming trend into the weekend. The next threat for scattered showers and thunderstorms will arrive late Saturday into Sunday. && .NEAR TERM /Rest of This Afternoon and Tonight/... Issued at 300 PM EDT Mon Aug 3 2020 Convection has developed and increased in coverage across roughly the southeast half of the forecast area as anticipated along and ahead a poorly defined cold front bisecting the region currently. 19Z temperatures were generally in the mid and upper 70s with slightly cooler temps where it was raining. The primary focus for the near term is on the threat for convection and locally heavy rainfall over the next 6 to 8 hours as the aforementioned front and an upper trough axis progress through the region. Mesoanalysis indicating an axis of moderate instability had developed within a moist airmass highlighted by PWATs peaking at around 1.6 inches. Convective coverage will remain high into the evening and focused more across the southeast half of the forecast area where moisture and instability are more prevalent. The lack of shear and stronger low level wind flow largely preclude any threat for severe storms but a few stronger cells may manage to produce brief gusty winds. The primary threat continues to be locally heavy rainfall from slow moving cells. Have already seen a few spots pick up over an inch quickly where convection has persisted and expect those trends to continue for the next few hours. Convection will gradually shift east this evening and diminish in coverage as heating is lost and the surface boundary shifts east. The upper level trough axis does hang back across the region overnight but at the same time as drier air advects in from the northwest. Cannot entirely rule out a few light showers or sprinkles during the predawn hours but confidence is just not enough for inclusion in the forecast at this point. Clouds will linger through daybreak and may see some fog develop as well although winds at 5- 10mph should keep fog localized at best. Temps...cooler air will filter into the region overnight as the deeper moisture departs to the east. The NBM blend aligned nicely with low level thermals and was accepted as lows should fall into the upper 50s and lower 60s. && .SHORT TERM /Tuesday through Thursday/... Issued at 300 PM EDT Mon Aug 3 2020 Forecast challenges through the short term will be minimal...focused largely on clouds diminishing Tuesday and temperatures through the period. A deepening upper low over Ontario will serve as the dominant weather feature for the region initially as it is held in place by Isaias tracking up the East Coast. The upper low and associated trough will kick out into Quebec on Wednesday and eventually into the Canadian Maritimes by Thursday once Isaias veers back into the north Atlantic. Upper level heights will recover over the Ohio Valley as a result with temperatures rising after the cool start to the period Tuesday and Wednesday. Cloud coverage is likely to be slow to diminish on Tuesday and in eastern portions of the forecast area...it may take much of the day to thin out until the upper trough axis can shift fully east of the region. Not entirely out of the question at a low chance for a few light showers over the southeast counties Tuesday morning in closest proximity to the departing moisture axis...but have left it dry for now with low confidence in this solution. Once Isaias zips up the East Coast and moves into New England Tuesday evening...surface high pressure will finally be able to build into the Ohio Valley from the west and take over as the primary influence through the rest of the short term. This will lead to clearing skies with a cool airmass settling in through Wednesday night and dry conditions through late week. Temps...low level thermals support highs and lows that through Wednesday are likely to be 10 to possibly as much as 15 degrees below normal for early August. Daytime highs largely in the mid 70s will be downright pleasant. Highs are likely to recover closer to 80 by Thursday. Lows will fall well into the 50s...and think a few of our normal cool spots may make a run at the upper 40s Tuesday night. && .LONG TERM /Thursday night through Monday/... Issued at 215 PM EDT Mon Aug 3 2020 High pressure will result in dry weather late this week and early weekend. Then, as the high migrates to the east, a frontal system will approach and impulses will move through in the northwest flow aloft. This will bring the threat of thunderstorms and seasonable temperatures back to central Indiana by Saturday. The best chances look to be Sunday afternoon through next Monday. && .AVIATION /Discussion for the 03/21Z TAF Update/... Issued at 425 PM EDT Mon Aug 3 2020 Update... Inserted thunder as currently prevailing at KIND. Previous Discussion... Ceiling trends and High Resolution Rapid Refresh support MVFR ceiling this afternoon with thunderstorm re-development near and after 19z. Coverage is expected to lower after sunset. Then, GFS LAMP and SREF support a period of VFR conditions, but lower clouds again possible toward 12z. Winds will be mostly light and variable to start off and away from thunderstorms. Winds will eventually be from the north less than 10 knots after 01z. && .IND WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...Ryan NEAR TERM...Ryan SHORT TERM...Ryan LONG TERM...MK AVIATION...MK/TDUD
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Indianapolis IN 430 PM EDT Mon Aug 3 2020 INZ021-028>031-035>049-051>057-060>065-067>072-042030- 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 Delphi, Flora, Williamsport, West Lebanon, Lafayette, West Lafayette, Frankfort, Kokomo, Attica, Covington, Veedersburg, Crawfordsville, Lebanon, Zionsville, Tipton, Fishers, Carmel, Noblesville, Anderson, Muncie, Winchester, Clinton, Newport, Rockville, Greencastle, Plainfield, Brownsburg, Danville, Indianapolis, Greenfield, Cumberland, New Castle, Terre Haute, Brazil, Clay City, Spencer, Martinsville, Mooresville, Greenwood, Franklin, Shelbyville, Rushville, Sullivan, Linton, Bloomfield, Bloomington, Nashville, Columbus, Greensburg, Vincennes, Washington, Loogootee, Shoals, Bedford, Mitchell, Seymour, Brownstown, and North Vernon 430 PM EDT Mon Aug 3 2020 This hazardous weather outlook is for central Indiana. .DAY ONE...Tonight. Outlook: Thunderstorms are possible. Hazards: Lightning and gusty winds from thunderstorms. Timing: Through this evening. Discussion: A cold front will cross Indiana producing scattered showers and a few thunderstorms. Dry conditions will return overnight tonight. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday. Outlook: There are chances for showers and thunderstorms on Friday Night through Sunday. Severe storms are not expected at this time. Lightning is a threat from any thunderstorm. Discussion: A warmer and more humid air mass will arrive in central Indiana this weekend...bringing chances for showers and thunderstorms. .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
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
444 PM EDT MON AUG 3 2020
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0415 PM HAIL 4 E SOUTHPORT 39.65N 86.04W
08/03/2020 E0.25 INCH MARION IN PUBLIC
&&
BHHThe Indianapolis radar (KIND), 12 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:57 UTC.
2 flood, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Street flooding up onto the sidewalk and to foot of stairs leading to front porch of house.
An 18 inch tree was downed due to a lightning strike.
Localized street flooding about 2 inches deep near Selma Elementary school.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Indiana in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Indiana, August 2020
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: 909370, 909372, 909371.