Tornado Watches Alert: Indianapolis North and West Counties on High Alert
A tornado watch remained in effect until 3 a.m. EDT Saturday for counties northwest and west of Indianapolis and into Illinois. A Tornado Watches Alert put Indianapolis north and west counties on high alert late Friday night.
Watch area and counties
The primary watch covers a broad swath of central and northern Indiana. It lists 24 counties under the watch through early Saturday morning.
- Boone
- Carroll
- Cass
- Clay
- Clinton
- Elkhart
- Fountain
- Fulton
- Howard
- Kosciusko
- La Porte
- Marshall
- Miami
- Montgomery
- Parke
- Pulaski
- Putnam
- St. Joseph
- Starke
- Tippecanoe
- Vermillion
- Vigo
- Wabash
- Warren
- White
Cities included
The watch area includes several population centers. Major cities named were Crawfordsville, Elkhart, Lafayette, Lebanon, South Bend, Terre Haute, and West Lafayette.
Second watch until midnight
Forecasters issued a separate watch that ran until midnight EDT Friday. That watch covered Benton, Jasper, Lake, Newton and Porter counties.
Gary was specifically listed inside that second watch. It also extended into parts of Illinois.
Storm reports and warnings
Severe storms Friday night produced dozens of confirmed tornado warnings. The storms affected central Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Minnesota.
Storm reports from central Illinois included gusts near 80 mph. Forecasters also noted tornadoes embedded within heavy rain.
National Weather Service alert
An alert from the National Weather Service in Indianapolis was issued after 10:30 p.m. Friday. It said a line of strong thunderstorms was nearing the state line.
The NWS noted the line had a history of widespread damaging winds and tornadoes. It expected the line to continue producing damaging winds and the potential for additional tornadoes as it moved into Indiana. Forecasters said the line should gradually weaken as it pushed farther into the state.
Filmogaz.com will continue to monitor updates from the National Weather Service and the Storm Prediction Center.
