During the overnight hours of November 14th into the 15th, a strong surface front approached central Indiana and passed through the state during the early morning hours. Rain and isolated thunderstorms brought occasional wind gusts up to 45 mph with stronger winds occurring due to gradient winds behind the front during the mid morning hours.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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.
During the overnight hours of November 14th into the 15th, a strong surface front approached central Indiana and passed through the state during the early morning hours. Rain and isolated thunderstorms brought occasional wind gusts up to 45 mph with stronger winds occurring due to gradient winds behind the front during the mid morning hours. The strongest wind gust was 64 mph with up to 50,000 people without power across the state at one point. Peak wind gusts were generally around 45 to 55 mph with isolated stronger gusts.
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 Nov 15, 5:55 AM EST, 3 hours 5 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Indianapolis IN 555 AM EST Sun Nov 15 2020 .UPDATE... The AVIATION Section has been updated below. && .SYNOPSIS... Issued at 400 AM EST Sun Nov 15 2020 Moderate to occasionally heavy rain showers will end from west to east this morning. The wind advisory will remain in effect through 700P this evening as westerly winds gust as high as 50 mph. Winds will diminish tonight...with dry and generally seasonable chill conditions then prevailing Monday through Wednesday night. Southwesterly breezes Thursday will usher in a noticeably milder end to the workweek...followed by at least slight chances of rain showers for the weekend. && .NEAR TERM /Rest of this morning and Today/... Issued at 400 AM EST Sun Nov 15 2020 WIND ADVISORY remains in effect through 700P EST today as west winds will gust as high as 50 mph...from the strong north-south pressure gradient between the deepening/departing storm system and high pressure across the southern Plains. Winds will be strongest along and north of the I-70 corridor...as well as during the midday hours when the lower atmosphere will be best mixed, bringing stronger winds aloft down to the surface. Moderate, to occasionally heavy rain is currently falling across most of central Indiana ahead of the surface cold front that is crossing Illinois from west to east. Rain will continue its southwest to northeast progression through the pre-dawn hours...and eventually end from west to east along with the arriving front around 12z. Latest guidance suggests the front's passage will be a couple hours later than previously expected, especially for counties along/east of US-31...so have kept chance/slight chc POPs here into mid-morning. Nevertheless moderate confidence continues that only a few rumbles of thunder will be found with these final hours of rain. Considerable cloudiness will linger for much of the CWA through this afternoon, however, as the H700 dry conveyor should only drop sky cover to FEW/SCT for southern counties by late morning. Central/northern counties will be influenced by the storm system's H500 trough axis remaining over the region until late day...with the PVA of the embedded vort maxs maintaining BKN skies along and north of I-70. Temperatures will peak in the mid to upper 50's by dawn, before dropping to the mid to upper 40's by late day. && .SHORT TERM /Tonight through Tuesday night/... Issued at 400 AM EST Sun Nov 15 2020 The period, while dry, will certainly have an autumnal feel as the gradient balance flows above central Indiana...between the departing storm system and next, slowly-arriving, Canadian air mass. An embedded H500 short wave will drop from the upper Mid-West late Monday, pulling a weak clipper-like disturbance across the region Monday night. Light to moderate westerly breezes will continue prior to the disturbence's passage...as the advection of very low mid-level RH brings clear skies to the region by early Monday morning. Winds will then shift to northwest Monday night as the associated boundary passes to the southeast. A few hours of FEW/SCT clouds early Tuesday are likely north and east of Indianapolis as the Canadian air mass arrives, although organized precipitation is not expected at this time. Readings will be ~10F below normal Tuesday and Tuesday night, courtesy the northwesterly flow and occasional gust to 20-25 mph late Tuesday. Temperatures will top out in the low to mid 50's Monday, but only 40's on Tuesday. Overnight lows will reach the low to mid 30's tonight and Monday night...and the mid 20's Tuesday night. && .LONG TERM /Wednesday through Saturday/... Issued at 145 AM EST Sun Nov 15 2020 Mainly Dry weather will be expected. Slight chances for rain on Saturday. ECMWF shows mainly zonal flow in place through this period with little in the way of passing upper level forcing. Surface high pressure will be exiting the area on Wednesday...before settling over the Carolinas with ridging extending west across the deep south. By Friday night into Saturday a frontal boundary is suggested to drop out of the upper midwest before settling over northern Indiana and Northern Illinois on Saturday. Models indicate some moisture in place along the frontal boundary...expected to linger on Friday and Saturday. Best moisture looks to stay north of the area...but ECMWF does hint at a surface ow moving along the front on Saturday. Thus for now the forecast builder has included some slight chc pops on Saturday which is reasonable at this point. && .AVIATION /Discussion for the 151200Z Tafs/... Issued at 541 AM EST Sun Nov 15 2020 IMPACTS: Brief MVFR will be possible this morning. Otherwise expect a return to VFR. Strong, Gusty winds to around 40 knts are expected today. DISCUSSION: A strong cold front will sweep across Indiana this morning. A strong pressure gradient in place across the area will result in gusty winds through the day. Radar shows ongoing precip ahead of the front quickly moving east...with the back edge of precip expected to exit the TAF sites by issuance time. Dry air is shown to arrive within the forecast soundings late this morning in the wake of the cold front. Forecast soundings show attainable convective temperatures that should result in some flat strato-cu through mid afternoon. However LCL's start around 3000ft but rise to around 4-5 kft this afternoon. Thus a brief period of MVFR CIGS will be possible. CONFIDENCE: Confidence is high for strong...gusty winds today. Confidence high for VFR CIGS after 18Z. && .IND WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Advisory until 7 PM EST this evening for INZ021-028>031- 035>049-051>057-060>065-067>072. && SYNOPSIS...AGM NEAR TERM...AGM SHORT TERM...AGM LONG TERM....Puma AVIATION...JP
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Indianapolis IN 402 AM EST Sun Nov 15 2020 INZ021-028>031-035>049-051>057-060>065-067>072-160915- 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 402 AM EST Sun Nov 15 2020 This hazardous weather outlook is for central Indiana. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight. Outlook: Isolated thunderstorms are possible this morning. Severe storms are not expected. A WIND ADVISORY is in effect Today. Hazards: Lightning from thunderstorms. Peak wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph are possible today. Timing: Lightning until 100 PM. Strongest wind gusts after 900 AM. Discussion: Strong low pressure over Wisconsin will quickly move northeast and drag a cold front across Central Indiana this morning. Showers with a few thunderstorms will be possible this morning with strong wind gusts developing near and behind the front late this morning and afternoon. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday. Outlook: No Hazardous Weather is expected at this time Discussion: High pressure will build across the Ohio Valley this week. Expect Dry and cooler weather through midweek with a warming trend for late week. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotters are encouraged to report any wind damage or measured wind gusts today. && More information, along with other weather, hydrological and climate information can be found at http://weather.gov/ind Puma
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 high wind, 1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A 1.75 inch diameter aluminum flagpole was snapped near the base by strong gradient winds in Noblesville. A wind gust at the time was estimated to be around 50 mph.
A 64 mph non-thunderstorm wind gust was measured at the KMIE ASOS.
A 66 mph non-thunderstorm wind gust was measured at the KIND ASOS.
Multiple trees and power lines down in the county due to strong gradient winds. Some roads blocked but most were cleared as of 1145 AM. Some stop lights in Greensburg on Main Street were not functioning.
A 30 inch diameter tree was downed by strong gradient winds on Rose Hill Avenue.
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, November 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: 920849, 920848, 920852, 920850, 920851.