Tornado watch in effect for central Indiana overnight

A line of severe storms is making its way through Indiana early Wednesday morning, triggering weather watches and warnings across the state.

At?4:15 a.m., Duke Energy was reporting about 8,400 (down from more than 18,000) customers without power.?More than 2,400 customers were reported without power in Lawrence County, and 2,300 in Johnson.

At the same time, IPL was reporting about 1,700 customers (down from 3,100) without electricity, including nearly 1,300 in the northeast part of Marion County.

A power line was reported down in the 6200 block of E. 86th Street and a tree fell onto a house was reported in a neighborhood near 75th Street and Dean Road.? Several other trees were down in that area.

Winds reaching 70 mph were reported in Brownsburg ahead of the storms. A spotter in Bloomington reported a 64 mph wind gust.

Tornado Watch issued

A tornado watch has been issued for?33?Indiana counties until early Wednesday morning.

BARTHOLOMEW...CLARK...CRAWFORD...DECATUR...DELAWARE...DUBOIS...FLOYD...HANCOCK...
HARRISON...HENRY...JACKSON...JEFFERSON...JENNINGS...ORANGE...PERRY...RANDOLPH...RUSH...
SCOTT...SHELBY...SPENCER...WASHINGTON

The watch remains in effect until 5 a.m.

See all watches and warnings here.

Forecast

Central Indiana is under a slight risk for severe storms overnight, with the most likely timing for storms between midnight and 6:00 am. Damaging winds are most likely, but isolated tornadoes and hail can't be ruled out. Southwest Indiana including Evansville is under a moderate severe risk.

In addition to the severe threat, there's also a flood threat. One to two inches of rain could cause some street flooding and rising rivers are likely. Since our ground is already saturated, flooding in the usual spots is possible. A flood watch runs from 7:00 pm to 11:00 am.

Temperatures top out in the low to mid-60s Tuesday (the record is 66 set in 2002) with the warmth lasting into the early hours of the morning along with the storms. Behind the storms and cold front, temperatures will drop much of the day Wednesday.

Wednesday morning's temperature around 8:00 am will probably be around 59. We'll fall into the 30s by late afternoon. There could be some passing rain showers that turn to snow showers as the colder air works in. That leads to a bitterly cold end to the week. Some light snow is possible Saturday, then we warm up again.

Some tips for tonight: clear out your storm drains today before the heavy rain arrives, and before you go to bed, make sure your weather radio is on to alert you if any warnings are issued while you're asleep. You can also sign up for the Personal Forecast ?to get alerts delivered straight to your smart phone or email.

Strong winds and tornadoes are also possible from Texas to Alabama and as far north as Michigan. The temperature in the central Missouri college town of Columbia reached 77 degrees on Monday, a record high for January. The spring-like conditions came after a spell of freezing rain, and forecasts predict early-morning snow on Wednesday.

The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., says the risks of tornadoes touching down Tuesday is greatest in northeast Texas, northern Louisiana, northwest Mississippi, southeast Missouri and much of Arkansas. That system is expected to hit much of the eastern United States on Wednesday.

WTHR.com weather tools

See all watches and warnings here.

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Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/50634935/ns/local_news-indianapolis_in/

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