Indiana tornado watch covers 47 counties, includes Indianapolis — Tornado Near Me

A tornado watch covered 47 Indiana counties through 1 a.m. EDT Thursday, including Indianapolis and surrounding counties, as a line of supercells was expected to move in from Illinois. For anyone searching tornado near me, the alert spans much of the state, not just the metro area.

Ryan Morse, a WRTV meteorologist, said Wednesday afternoon's rain was the first of two rounds coming to Indiana. The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center issued the watch while severe-weather threats included damaging wind, strong tornadoes, large hail, and flooding.

Indiana counties in the watch

The watch area includes Bartholomew, Blackford, Boone, Brown, Carroll, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Daviess, Decatur, Delaware, Fountain, Grant, Greene, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Henry, Howard, Huntington, Jackson, Jay, Jennings, Johnson, Knox, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Martin, Miami, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Owen, Parke, Putnam, Randolph, Rush, Shelby, Sullivan, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Vermillion, Vigo, Wabash, Warren, and White. That is 47 of Indiana's 92 counties.

Keith Gibson, a WISH-TV meteorologist, said severe storms were expected to exit Indiana in the early morning hours. Until then, people were advised to have multiple ways of getting alerts and to keep electronic devices fully charged in case they lose power.

Illinois storms before Indiana

Dozens of counties in neighboring Illinois were under a tornado watch until 10 p.m. CDT, which is 11 p.m. EST. The setup placed western and central Indiana in the path of the system after Illinois.

After the storms move out, the next chance for rain could come on Saturday. For readers in the watch area, the immediate step is to stay alert overnight and keep devices ready in case warnings follow the watch.