Do you remember the Labor Day flood of 2003? It would be a record setting day for rain.

LABOR DAY 2003

It was Labor Day, September first in 2003 that a stalled front camped over Indianapolis and central Indiana bringing the single day largest rainfall on record. Wave after wave of tropical downpours and embedded thunderstorms, aided too by the remnants of a tropical storm – Grace, occurred for hours on top of already saturated soils. Wide-spread flash flooding occurred across the city with homes being evacuated and numerous vehicle rescues performed. The high waters sent area creeks and streams over their banks and produced some record setting river flooding. Over 300 homes and 60 business were flooded forcing some 200 people to evacuate.

By the end of the day the total rainfall reached 7.2″ and that became the single day record for the city of Indianapolis, breaking the previous record of 6.8″ set in 1865.

It is worth noting, we have had little to no rain on Labor Day in Indianapolis since 2003! Only 2012 (.01″), 2017 (.02″), 2021 (Trace) and last year 2022 (.07″) have produced measured rainfall.