Tornado watch in effect across much of Indiana this evening | Live Doppler 13 Weather Blog

INDIANA, USA — UPDATE: A tornado watch (pink) is in effect for much of Indiana until 8PM EDT. A couple rounds of storms are moving in from the west. There are widespread winds pushing through the state. However some tornadoes are possible, especially south and west of Indianapolis.

Sunday will likely be a stormy day across Indiana as a cold front approaches. We expect a few severe storms during the afternoon, followed by a line of wind storms with gusts up to 70-75 mph. Wind is our primary threat. There may also be a few tornadoes and some hail.

Tap HERE to track the incoming storm system with our interactive radar.

13News meteorologists will be keeping you updated throughout the day on WTHR+. Tap HERE for instructions on how to download the WTHR+ app for your Smart TV.

Storms with the highest impact are most likely from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.
While severe weather chances are high, not every Hoosier will get a severe storm. Some of us will just get some rain and thunder. However, there is a chance of strong thunderstorms the second half of Sunday.
Wind is our highest risk across the state. There is a low-to-medium chance for tornadoes and hail, especially south of Indianapolis.

The Level 3 severe threat from the Storm Prediction Center has been slightly expanded north to now cover nearly 100% of Indiana. The coverage of thunderstorms will likely be “scattered to numerous”, but that does not guarantee every county get’s something strong, but a lot of us will.

Damaging winds (highest risk)
Tornadoes
Large hail
Localized flooding (very low risk – up to 1-2 inches of rain possible this weekend)

There are a few things helping to enhance our severe threat, but also a few inhibiting factors that could decrease the intensity of storms.

Strong storm threat triggers:

Intense cold front coming in — will drop us to the 40s by Monday.
Stiff southwesterly winds are feeding warmth and humidity for storm creation.
Winds are increasing in height, which can help storms organize.
Morning rain showers across Indiana, especially south and east of Indianapolis, could linger longer than expecting, reducing how much fuel is available to thunderstorms.
Most of the winds are fairly directionally aligned, which can sometimes lead to waterlogging, slowly weakening a storm.

The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has placed a large portion of the Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys under a Level 3 Enhanced Risk, including all of central and southern Indiana. This is a broad zone, meaning some areas may experience only rain and thunder, while others could see intense storms with damaging winds and tornadoes.

It is rare for Indiana to be under a Level 3 severe threat this far in advance, so we anticipate fine-tuning of these zones as we approach the weekend.

We think the scattered storm threat will evolve into a more linear set-up. Once discrete storms form into a line, there is a chance the line of storms moves in faster with a faster cold front. That could bring the worst of the line of severe storms to central Indiana between 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

It will take eastern and southeastern Indiana a bit longer to clear out from the storms, but we think the state of Indiana may be mostly done by 10-11 p.m. Don’t be surprised if they linger another hour to the south, but we should be about done.

There are two main storm modes to watch:

Scattered afternoon storms (would bring higher risk of large hail mainly west and tornado threat): 2-5 p.m.
Line of storms through the evening (damaging wind threat): 4-10 p.m.

The storms will start to the south and west, gradually expanding north and east. There may be a storm before or after this, but these time windows highlight 90% of the severe potential.

The stormiest time for central Indiana will be 4-8 p.m.

Severe weather and the possible modes (wind, hail, and tornadoes) are not distributed equally across the state. We are breaking down which areas of the state are most likely to get each type of severe weather.

Wind is our biggest threat. Many of the storms will bring severe wind gusts of 60-68 mph. However, some of the strong parts of the line of storms could have straight line gusts up to 75+ mph. That would be about the same as an EF-0 tornado.

The wind along a line of storms is not completely uniform. There are areas where you have wind surges and others where the wind collapses.

Tornadoes are not our primary threat, but there may be some rotation that develops in the storms, especially along the leading edge of the evening line of storms.

Most of the state has a low chance for tornadoes, but not a zero chance. Parts of southern Indiana have a medium chance for tornadoes where the rotation in the atmosphere may be a bit stronger.

A line of storms doesn’t typically bring the most hail, but some hailstones are still possible. This will most likely be on the western tier of the state where more isolated supercell thunderstorms initially develop. Up to golf ball sized hail is possible in some of the storms. Not everyone will get hail, or at least large hail. In fact, hail is a more localized threat for Sunday.

Today will not be our stormiest day in history. However, we are expecting some very strong winds inside these thunderstorms, and there may be a few tornadoes that touchdown. Your 13News Weather Team will be tracking all the storms through the afternoon and evening. Tune into WTHR+ for storm coverage. Tornado warnings will be broadcasted onto NBC Channel 13.

Then watch for the cooler air to rush into Indiana by Monday morning with temperatures dropping back into the upper 30s/low 40s. Northern areas may even see a snow flurry.