A cluster of severe thunderstorm watches covering dozens of Indiana counties, plus a fast-moving string of warnings for damaging wind and large hail, kept much of the state under threat Tuesday afternoon — while a flash flood warning brought reports of vehicles stranded in floodwaters around Muncie.
Watch 565 Covers Central and West Central Indiana
The NWS Indianapolis office extended Severe Thunderstorm Watch 565 until 5 PM EDT to include Monroe, Clay, Owen and Vigo counties, adding to 28 counties already under the watch across central Indiana.
The full watch area stretched from Indianapolis, Carmel, Fishers and Noblesville in the center of the state to Lafayette and West Lafayette in the west, Muncie and Anderson in the east, and Columbus, Bloomington and Martinsville to the south.
Watches 567 and 568 Extend Into East and Southeast Indiana
The NWS Wilmington office kept Severe Thunderstorm Watch 567 in effect until 8 PM EDT for Fayette, Union, Wayne and Franklin counties in eastern Indiana, alongside 23 counties in western and central Ohio.
The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma issued a separate Watch 568 until 8 PM EDT for Dearborn, Jefferson, Ohio, Ripley, Scott and Switzerland counties in southeastern Indiana, along with parts of northern Kentucky and southwestern Ohio.
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings Fire Off Through the Afternoon
Within the watch areas, individual warnings hit west central Indiana repeatedly. A 314 PM warning for northern Fountain, southwestern Tippecanoe and Warren counties brought 60 mph gusts and quarter-size hail near Williamsport and Attica, along I-74.
At 326 PM, a warning for northern Monroe, southern Morgan, northwestern Brown, southwestern Johnson and northeastern Owen counties brought a storm with 60 mph gusts and quarter-size hail near Spencer and Bloomington, threatening Martinsville, Trafalgar and Morgantown.
A third warning at 341 PM covered Fountain, southern Tippecanoe and Montgomery counties, again with 60 mph gusts and quarter-size hail, as the storm tracked toward Crawfordsville along I-74.
Flash Flood Warning: Vehicles Stranded Near Muncie
A Flash Flood Warning remained in effect until 530 PM for eastern Howard, northern Madison, Delaware and Randolph counties, where radar indicated 1 to 3 inches of rain had already fallen, with another 0.5 to 1.5 inches possible.
Muncie, Kokomo, Alexandria, Winchester, Yorktown, Union City and the Ball State University area were all included. Flash flooding was reported in the Muncie area, with vehicles stranded in floodwaters.
What Hoosiers Should Do
Turn around, don’t drown: never drive through a flooded road, since most flood deaths happen in vehicles.
For severe thunderstorm warnings, move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building to avoid damage from hail and wind gusts. Watches remain in effect into the evening across much of the state, so stay weather-aware as additional storms develop.
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