Several parts of Indiana, including Lafayette and Indianapolis, were under a tornado watch on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, as severe thunderstorms swept through the region. The National Weather Service (NWS) in Indianapolis issued a tornado watch at 2:42 PM EDT, which remains valid until 8 PM EDT, for 39 counties in central Indiana. This includes Bartholomew, Boone, Clinton, Decatur, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Howard, Johnson, Madison, Marion, Morgan, Rush, Shelby, and Tipton counties, among others.
The NWS issued a tornado warning at 4:21 PM EDT for northeastern Hendricks County, northwestern Marion County, and southeastern Boone County, including suburbs northwest of Indianapolis. This warning was in effect until 4:45 PM EDT. The NWS reported a thunderstorm with radar-indicated rotation located near Brownsburg, approximately 16 miles northwest of Indianapolis, moving northeast at 50 mph.
A tornado watch means that conditions are favorable for tornadoes and severe thunderstorms in the area. People in these areas should be aware of the weather and be prepared to take shelter if a tornado warning is issued. A tornado warning means that a tornado has been sighted or indicated by weather radar. When a tornado warning is issued, people in the affected area should take shelter immediately.
The storms posed significant hazards, including the potential for a tornado that could cause flying debris and damage or destroy mobile homes, and harm roofs, windows, vehicles, and trees. Affected communities included Brownsburg, Zionsville, Pittsboro, and Whitestown, with the storm's path crossing major highways such as Interstate 65 and Interstate 74.
More than 62 million people from North Carolina to the U.S.-Canada border in Maine were placed in a Level 2 out of 5 threat for Thursday, June 19, 2025. The main threats from storms that develop on Thursday will be damaging wind gusts and hail.
Residents in the affected areas were urged to seek immediate shelter. The safest places to take shelter during a tornado are in a basement, storm cellar, or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building. It is important to stay away from windows, doors, and outside walls.
The severe weather is part of a larger weather pattern affecting much of the central U.S., from the Midwest to the Great Lakes region. Cities like St. Louis, Indianapolis, Chicago, and Detroit are on alert for powerful storms that could produce damaging wind gusts, large hail, and even some tornadoes. This renewed risk comes after extreme weather tore across the Plains and Midwest over the past few days, producing tornadoes in Minnesota and Nebraska, while a record-breaking 101-mph wind gust was reported in Wichita, Kansas.
The severe weather threat is expected to continue for the rest of the week, putting the mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and New England on alert by Thursday.
