Wet and Active Weather in June 2015

Updated 7/01/2015 3:00 PM EDT

Overview

June was an active month in weather across the Northern Indiana forecast area, which includes parts of southern Lower Michigan, northern Indiana, and northwest Ohio. Record rainfall and flooding occurred across mainly south central Indiana and northwest Ohio. The active weather pattern also led to several severe weather events, with damaging winds, large hail, and even a tornado observed this month. Use the links at the top to navigate the page.

Climatology

Well above normal rainfall occurred for most areas during the month of June as a result of an active weather pattern. Many locations broke all time wettest month records, including Fort Wayne Indiana. Flooding occurred during two primary weather events, including June 13-16th and June 26th-28th. On June 8th and 9th, thunderstorms produced upwards of two inches of rain in some locations. See the individual write ups below for details on these events. The table below has monthly totals and records for precipitation across the NWS Northern Indiana Forecast Area. Click here to read the Fort Wayne and South Bend June climate summaries.

Total Precipitation For June 2015 and the Departure From Normal

Left: Total precipitation from June 2015 across the Northern Indiana forecast area. Right: Precipitation departure from normal for June 2015. 

Get Maps Like These HERE.

*Missing Data on June 27th

Flooding and Sporadic Wind Damage June 13th-16th

June 13-16th was an active period, as a stationary front settled over the region. High pressure over the southeastern U.S. brought warm, moist air in from the gulf. This brought frequent rain and thunderstorms to the area. Storms that developed on June 13th brought damaging winds to many areas, estimated at 50-65 mph. Several large trees, tree limbs, and power lines were downed in Huntington, Fulton, Allen, and Whitley Indiana. Other locations saw extremely heavy rain and flooding. An observer 2 miles ESE of Harlan (Allen County, IN) reported 2.54 inches of rain in only 30-40 minutes! Reports of flooding came in from Huntington County near Banquo and Goblesville, IN. Some roads became impassible due to nearly a foot of water flowing over the road. 

Scattered showers and thunderstorms developed yet again the afternoon of the 14th and 15th, forming in many of the same locations that received heavy rain in the days prior. Though severe weather did not occur, we received numerous reports of heavy rain and flooding. On June 16th, a low pressure system moved into the area, and much of the forecast area received steady rainfall. By 4 pm EDT, parts of Huntington, Marshall, and Wabash Counties in Indiana had already received upwards of 3 to 4 inches of rain. The rest of the area received 1 to 2 inches of rain. Pictures of flooding during this time period, especially in Huntington County IN can be found in the pictures section below. 

Observed Precipitation June 13-June 16th, 2015

Image: Precipitation Observed from June 13-June 16th across the Northern Indiana Forecast Area

To view the original maps, search the archive HERE

Flooding and High Wind Event June 26th-27th

An unseasonably strong low presure system moved through the ohio valley June 26th and 27th, bringing moderate to heavy rain to mainly the southern and eastern portions of the forecast area. Strong winds aloft were able to mix down in the rain showers across the area the morning of the 27th. Extremely saturated soils from the excessive rainfall through the month of June made it easy for strong winds of 40-66 mph the morning of the 27th to cause widespread wind damage across the Fort Wayne area. Hundreds of trees were uprooted or snapped, and structural damage was reported as trees fell into houses. 

Widespread flooding occurred across much of the forecast area, with the exception of far northwestern Indiana and southwestern Lower Michigan. Nearly all rivers in the Maumee and Wabash river basins went into flood, with some locations even reaching major flood levels. Evacuations and water rescues took place due to water inundating neighborhoods and from water flowing over roads, especially in Henry County Ohio. 

Observed Precipitation June 26th-27th, 2015

Precipitation totals for June 26th and 27th, 2015. To get these maps, visit this page.

June Severe Weather

The active weather pattern for June led to several severe weather events, with damaging winds, large hail, and even a tornado observed this month. Below is a summary of the severe weather events we had in June 2015.

June 7th: Thunderstorm Wind Damage and the Starke County, IN Tornado

Storms developed across the forecast area in the warm sector of a low pressure system. Strong storms developed in the west, causing wind damage in Fulton, Pulaski, and Starke, IN. One of the storms developed a tornado, which moved through Starke County. See this webpage for a detailed case write up on this event, including the tornado track. Flooding also occurred in this area due to heavy rains within thunderstorms. 

June 8th: Heavy Rain, Hail, and Damaging wind event across much of the Forecast Area

A low pressure system moving north of Lake Superior brought a cold front through the forecast area during the afternoon hours on June 8th and additional rain on June 9th.  Another disturbance behind the cold front moved through in the early evening, allowing strong to severe storms to develop across the area. Thunderstorm winds gusting to 50-65 mph caused wind damage across the forecast area, mainly downed tree limbs, trees, and some power lines. Hail was also observed in the storms. Though most of the hail was less than 1 inch in diameter, one storm in North Judson (Starke County) Indiana saw hail as big as 1.5 inches in diameter. Localized flooding was observed in many locations because of heavy rainfall associated with the storms.

June 10th: Damaging Winds Across Northern Indiana and Northwest Ohio, Ping Pong Sized Hail in Wauseon OH

A shortwave moving through the upper Great Lakes helped push a weak surface front south into our area late in the afternoon. The front and afternoon lake breezes initiated storms in the moderately unstable environment. Modest wind shear allowed the storms to become strong to severe, with hail and damaging winds of 50-65 mph reported across the forecast area. Trees and power lines were downed by the strong winds in several locations in Northern Indiana and Northwest Ohio, and hail of 1-1.25 inches (ping pong ball sized) was reported in Wauseon, OH. 

June 11th: Stalled Frontal Boundary Leads to Severe Weather across Much of the Forecast Area 

Low pressure over the central plains and high pressure centered over northern Lake Michigan set up a stationary front across the forecast area, providing a weak focus for storm development. Lake breezes worked to enhance the low level convergence in a moderately unstable environment with abundant moisture.  Storms developed in the late afternoon and continued into the evening. Damaging winds and large hail were reported, mainly in Northwest Ohio and far Northwest Indiana.  Minor structural damage, downed trees and power lines were the primary damage reports received, though there was a report of a tree falling on a house in Florida, OH (Henry County). Large hail, generally 1-1.5 inches in diameter was reported, with the largest reports near Osceola, IN up to Ping Pong ball size, and in Shipshewana, IN up to half dollar sized hail!

June 12th: Heavy Rain and Damaging Winds for the Southwestern CWA (White, Pulaski, Fulton, Cass IN)

Surface low pressure and an upper level disturbance moving from Iowa into the Ohio Valley brought numerous showers and thunderstorms to the forecast area. Damaging winds and hail were reported in mainly the southwestern portions of the forecast area, where the bes...t instability and wind shear were present.  Storm motion was parallel to the frontal boundary, which led to heavy rain and localized flooding.  Storms developed in the afternoon, primarily in White, Pulaski, Fulton, and Cass Counties in Indiana. Reports of hail up to 1 inch in diameter, wind gusts of 45-60 mph, and wind damage were received by the late afternoon and early evening.  In addition to downed trees , tree limbs, we received a report of two trees down on a house near Flora in Miami County, IN. The heavy rain from these storms led to water as much as 8-10 inches deep flowing over roads. At 8:50 PM EDT, a trained spotter reported 4.5 inches of rain over a 4.5 hour period near Indiana Beach in White County, IN.  Generally, amounts of around 1-2 inches were reported for most locations in as little as 2 hours. This was the beginning of flooding problems across the region that continued for the remainder of June. 

June 18th: Heavy Rain and Damaging Winds for North Central Indiana and Northwest Ohio

The forecast area was in the warm sector of the low pressure system, and warm moist air was lifting into the region from the Gulf of Mexico. Thanks to Tropical Storm Bill, precipitable water values were nearly 200% of normal, at nearly 2.0 inches (Click here for a description of precipitable water).  A line of storms developed in Central Illinois as the cold front swept through the region, and moved northeast. As they encountered better instability, small bowing segments with damaging winds developed. Reports of trees and large limbs down were reported in Northwest Ohio and North Central Indiana. Saturated soils reduced resistance of trees to fall, with easy uprooting observed. Winds were estimated at 50-60 mph in most cases. Heavy rain rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour at times led to flooding in fields and county roads. 

Pictures

Thanks to everyone who sent us pictures on Facebook and Twitter this month! We really appreciate the reports and information. 

Left: Dime sized hail from Michigan City, IN on June 8th (Travis Steffey).

Right: Tree Damage in Fort Wayne on June 9th (Warren Barrand Vanburen)

Left: Flooding in Pulaski County, IN on June 8th (Sent in to Matt Rudkin WSBT)

Right: Tree damage in Miami County, IN on June 12th (Miami County Emergency Management)

Flooding Pictures from the June 13-16th Heavy Rain 

Photos of damage from the Fort Wayne, IN and Waynedale, IN area June 27, 2015

Photos of flooding in Ohio on June 27, 2015

Flooding in Hamler, OH and Portland, IN June 27, 2015

July 2015 Outlook

The climate prediction center's outlook for July 2015 gives our area a 40% chance of seeing below normal temperatures, and a 30-40% chance of seeing above normal precipitation. Click HERE for their latest discussion.

One month outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center (For July 2015).

Other Useful Links

National Weather Service Northern Indiana Homepage

Midwestern Regional Climate Center

Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Center Precipitation Analysis Page

Climate Prediction Center