STATE WIDE–The potential for severe weather, including strong, long-track tornadoes, may begin in Indiana as soon as 8 p.m.
“This is a potentially significant damaging wind event, with tornadoes possible,” said Sam Lashley, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “We are looking at a rare, unique and dangerous setup. All hazard types are in play tonight.”
LISTEN: Sam Lashley talks tornado threat
That includes dangerous lightning, winds gusts as high as 80 mph, and the potential for localized flooding where storms train over the same areas over and over.
Lashley said storms could move as fast as 55 mph, which could mean the Weather Service would have a tough time getting warnings out fast enough.
“There may not be a lot of time between the warning and the storms hitting. We’re gonna do our best, obviously, to get as much lead time as possible. But, these storms could intensify very rapidly and moving at that speed also increases the damaging wind threat.”
Lashley says you should have multiple ways to get warnings, including radio, TV, weather radio and cell phones.
“Make sure they’re charged this evening before the storms begin. We want to make sure they are not on do not disturb or vibrate, so there is an audible component. Make sure the volume is turned up,” he said.
