Flood — Vanderburgh, Indiana

2025-07-17 · near Smythe, Vanderburgh, Indiana

Event narrative

Heavy rain resulted in about a foot of standing water on the 4400 block of Bellemeade Ave in Evansville. Rainfall rates with the passing storm peaked at almost an inch of rain within thirty minutes, but the lack of additional thunderstorms/heavy rain moving over the same area prevented any flash flood development.

Wider weather episode

A surface cold front stalled out as it moved towards the northern edge of the Quad State on the 17th. Showers and thunderstorms developed during the afternoon hours, tracking eastward, including a broken line of storms moving through the Evansville Tri-State area mid-afternoon. An outflow boundary from a decayed MCS to the north helped initiate some of the storm development. MLCAPE was a very strong 4000J/kg but bulk shear was limited. Precipitable water values were a very high 2.25 inches. Despite an active weather day, the lack of shear kept severe weather potential limited, and the lack of training with the heavy rain kept flooding from becoming widespread. The lone report out of Southwest Indiana was of roadway ponding in Evansville from heavy rainfall rates.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.9681, -87.4947)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1294799. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.