Severe Thunderstorm Watch issued for south-central Indiana | Weather Impact Alert Day (2025)

The timing of storms today played-out mainly as expected. We're currently in the midst of "round 2" that's impacted areas south of I-70 the most (also expected). A Severe Thunderstorm Watch continues and a zone of flash flooding rainfall is underway from Knox County to North Vernon...where axis of 2"-3"+/hour rain rates have caused Flash Flood Warnings.

This zone will include Bedford, Seymour, parts of Monroe, Brown, Bartholomew counties between now and 9 p.m.

The severe threat is essentially over Indy...though pop-up storms continue east and south of Marion County. That doesn't mean that the metro area will remain dry. In fact, there will be a period of steady "comma head" rain with rumbles over the next 2-3 hours.

These won't be severe, but it will impact outdoor events. The storm complex will be out of the state by 9 p.m. and then less humid air will arrive from northwest-to-southeast overnight into Wednesday morning.

Wednesday begins dry, but the boundary returns later in the day and may trigger widely scattered storms...some possibly severe.

The patter stays active with more potentially severe storms (Level 1 for now) come Thursday and additional showers Friday afternoon.

2:45 p.m. (April 29, 2025) update:

NEW Severe Thunderstorm Watch issued for south-central Indiana until 9 p.m. that includes Bloomington, Columbus, North Vernon, Seymour and Bedford, southward into Kentucky. Storm complex impacts there between 4 p.m.-8 p.m., with additional "pop-up" storms possible area-wide until sunset due to the highly humid heat and slow-moving front.

But the higher storm coverage/severe potential is expectedly setting up south of I-70, where there will be streaks of 60-70+ mph wind and damage within the Watch area.

2 p.m. update:

Round 1 of storms is now in Ohio, but not before a swath of 60+ mph wind reports and some wind damage in the circled zone below.

We now wait and watch radar for the Round 2, which comes primarily from a second storm complex that's currently nearing St. Louis. We expect an expansion of a Severe Thunderstorm Watch downstream that, at minimum, will cover the south-central Indiana, and may come as far north as Interstate 70 and the Indianapolis metro area.

This complex brings another 60-70+ mph wind threat between 3 p.m.-8 p.m. in its path. The farther south you are of I-70, the higher chance you have of getting severe wind gusts and/or wind damage. Also expect frequent lightning and heavy rain — all of which is bad news for any outdoor plans in south-central Indiana today.

In addition this complex, pop-up severe storms are possible farther north as a cold front interacts with highly humid air and increasing sunshine along the I-70 corridor.

There's much higher certainty if lift from the front will be enough to trigger new storms or not. But we'll monitor closely and you should, too.

Please remain Weather Aware, and the 13 Weather Team will be on-air and online as needed.

10 a.m. update:

Round 1 of storms (now-1 p.m.) are in progress with scattered to numerous downpours and storms moving along the I-70 corridor. As Lindsey mentioned earlier this morning, these will mainly be "non-severe" but still produce very heavy rain rates and have lightning.

We can't completely rule-out a few of these becoming intense enough for severe hail/wind, but the second round will have a much higher chance of bringing warnings to the southern half of the state.

Round 2 (3 p.m.-8 p.m.) will have higher wind (60-70+ mph) threat, and this may likely become more focused south of I-70. However, all areas should remain Weather Aware until we can give you an all clear.

But based on latest radar/satellite/model trends, we believe the greater combination of heating/instability/wind shear will be maximized south of I-70 and into Ohio/Kentucky with a complex of storms that's currently near Springfield, Missouri.

This complex is expected to intensify as it moves east and slightly northeast. A Severe Thunderstorm Watch was recently issued in advance of this feature and we expect that Watch Box gets expanded east to encompass south-central Indiana later today, in anticipation of streaks of wind damage.

The severe threat will be over for the WTHR viewing area by 8 p.m.

Weather Impact Alert: Tuesday

One round of likely non-severe storms will move through this morning. We'll then see a lull in rain/storm activity with temperatures recovering to near 80 degrees ahead of round 2 initiating between 3-4 p.m.

The Storm Prediction Center has upgraded the southeastern tier of the state from Indianapolis down to Bloomington over to the Cincinnati area to be under a level 3 of 5 for numerous severe storms possible. The rest of the state is under a level 2 of 5 for scattered strong to severe storms.

Severe threat ends but wet pattern remains Wed-Fri

This boundary will then stall out across the Ohio River Valley overnight, keeping stray showers around across the southern tier of the state through Wednesday afternoon. Due to this, the Storm Prediction Center has kept a level 1 of 5 risk of an isolated severe storm in southern Indiana.

The rest of the state sees several dry hours Wednesday with temperatures topping out in the low 70s. The front will then lift back northward Wednesday evening and prompt scattered showers and perhaps some isolated storms through Thursday morning.

Thursday will be a wet and stormy day with this low pressure system tracking through the state. There will be ample ingredients for at least a low-end threat of severe weather in the late afternoon and evening with damaging wind gusts as the primary threat.

This system will eventually pull east on Friday with a few lingering showers possible. An additional 1-2 inches of rainfall will be possible. We'll start next weekend with dry weather returning but briefly cooler temperatures with morning lows in the mid 40s and highs in the mid 60s for Mini Marathon Saturday. A more quiet setup will continue into next week with dry weather and more seasonal temperatures with highs near 70 degrees.