Tornado watch covers 47 Indiana counties, including Indianapolis — Wcpo Weather

wcpo weather: A tornado watch is in effect through 1 a.m. EDT Thursday for 47 of Indiana's 92 counties, including Indianapolis and its surrounding counties. Ryan Morse said Wednesday afternoon's rain was the first of two rounds coming to the Hoosier state.

The watch covers a wide stretch of the state, from Bartholomew and Boone to Marion, Hamilton, Hendricks, Johnson and Tippecanoe. It also includes counties such as Delaware, Monroe, Morgan, Shelby, Vigo and White, giving many central and southern Indiana communities the same deadline to stay alert.

Indiana counties under watch

The counties in the watch area are 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.

Morse described the first round of rain before a broader line of supercells was expected to form in Illinois and move into central Indiana. Neighboring Illinois also had dozens of counties under a tornado watch until 10 p.m. CDT/11 p.m. EST.

Severe weather threats

The forecast calls for damaging wind, strong tornadoes, large hail and flooding. Severe storms should exit Indiana in the early morning hours, which gives residents a limited overnight window to keep alerts on and respond quickly if warnings are issued.

Keith Gibson said people should have multiple ways of getting alerts and have electronic devices fully charged in case they lose power. With the next chance for rain after these storms possibly coming on Saturday, the immediate concern is getting through the overnight period without missing a warning.

Ryan Morse on the timing

Morse's two-round description leaves central Indiana facing more than one wave of weather before daylight. For people in Indianapolis and the surrounding counties named in the watch, the practical step is to keep phones charged, alerts enabled and a backup way to hear warnings until the storms move out.