Green depicts area covered by flood watch.

The northern Indiana National Weather Service office issued a flood watch this morning for its entire 37-county forecast area. The watch is in effect from Thursday morning through late Thursday night. The watch means there is a potential for flooding and that flood warnings might be necessary later. The verbatim watch statement appears below.

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
FLOOD WATCH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
1128 AM EST WED FEB 19 2014

...FLOODING POTENTIAL THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT...

.RAIN ON THURSDAY COMBINED WITH MELTING SNOW WILL BRING A RISK FOR
FLOODING TO MANY AREAS THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT. LONGER
DURATION RIVER FLOODING WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE INTO THIS WEEKEND.
PEOPLE LIVING IN AREAS PRONE TO FLOODING SHOULD TAKE TIME TO
PREPARE NOW AND LISTEN FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

SNOW AND ICE CURRENTLY ON THE GROUND CONTAINS A LARGE QUANTITY OF
STORED WATER...GENERALLY 1.5 TO 4.0 INCHES ACROSS THE REGION. THE
GREATEST WATER CONTENT IS ACROSS PORTIONS OF NORTHERN INDIANA AND
SOUTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN WHERE SNOW DEPTHS REMAIN OVER A FOOT AND
CLOSER TO TWO FEET IN SOME AREAS. MELTING HAS ALREADY BEGUN WITH
ADDITIONAL SNOW MELT ON THURSDAY ALONG WITH MODERATE TO LOCALLY
HEAVY RAINFALL EXPECTED.

WATER RUNOFF FROM THE COMBINED RAINFALL AND SNOW MELT OVER A
DEEPLY FROZEN GROUND WILL LEAD TO A HEIGHTENED POTENTIAL FOR
FLOODING IN LOW LYING AREAS...BASEMENTS...SMALL CREEKS AND
STREAMS. SIGNIFICANT RISES ALONG MAIN STEM RIVERS WILL LIKELY
FOLLOW INTO THIS WEEKEND.

MANY STREAMS AND RIVERS ARE ALSO COVERED IN THICK ICE WHICH MAY BREAKUP
AND INCREASE THE RISK FOR ICE JAMS AND RAPIDLY RISING WATER. THIS WOULD
SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE LOCAL FLOODING POTENTIAL NEAR THESE BODIES
OF WATER.

STAY ALERT FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS BY
VISITING WEATHER.GOV/IWX OR LISTENING TO LOCAL MEDIA BROADCASTS.


INZ003>009-012>018-020-022>027-032>034-MIZ077>081-OHZ001-002-004-
005-015-016-024-025-200030-
/O.NEW.KIWX.FA.A.0001.140220T1200Z-140221T0600Z/
/00000.0.RS.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/
LA PORTE-ST. JOSEPH IN-ELKHART-LAGRANGE-STEUBEN-NOBLE-DE KALB-
STARKE-PULASKI-MARSHALL-FULTON IN-KOSCIUSKO-WHITLEY-ALLEN IN-
WHITE-CASS IN-MIAMI-WABASH-HUNTINGTON-WELLS-ADAMS-GRANT-BLACKFORD-
JAY-BERRIEN-CASS MI-ST. JOSEPH MI-BRANCH-HILLSDALE-WILLIAMS-
FULTON OH-DEFIANCE-HENRY-PAULDING-PUTNAM-VAN WERT-ALLEN OH-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...MICHIGAN CITY...LA PORTE...SOUTH BEND...
MISHAWAKA...NEW CARLISLE...WALKERTON...ELKHART...GOSHEN...
NAPPANEE...LAGRANGE...TOPEKA...SHIPSHEWANA...ANGOLA...FREMONT...
KENDALLVILLE...LIGONIER...ALBION...AUBURN...GARRETT...KNOX...
NORTH JUDSON...BASS LAKE...WINAMAC...FRANCESVILLE...MEDARYVILLE...
PLYMOUTH...BREMEN...CULVER...ROCHESTER...AKRON...WARSAW...
WINONA LAKE...SYRACUSE...MENTONE...COLUMBIA CITY...TRI-LAKES...
SOUTH WHITLEY...FORT WAYNE...NEW HAVEN...MONTICELLO...BROOKSTON...
MONON...LOGANSPORT...ROYAL CENTER...PERU...GRISSOM AFB...MEXICO...
WABASH...NORTH MANCHESTER...HUNTINGTON...ROANOKE...BLUFFTON...
OSSIAN...DECATUR...BERNE...MARION...GAS CITY...UPLAND...
HARTFORD CITY...MONTPELIER...PORTLAND...DUNKIRK...NILES...
BENTON HARBOR...ST. JOSEPH...BUCHANAN...DOWAGIAC...CASSOPOLIS...
MARCELLUS...STURGIS...THREE RIVERS...WHITE PIGEON...MENDON...
COLDWATER...BRONSON...HILLSDALE...LITCHFIELD...JONESVILLE...
BRYAN...WAUSEON...ARCHBOLD...FAYETTE...SWANTON...DEFIANCE...
SHERWOOD...HICKSVILLE...NAPOLEON...DESHLER...LIBERTY CENTER...
PAULDING...ANTWERP...MELROSE...OTTAWA...PANDORA...KALIDA...
FORT JENNINGS...VAN WERT...DELPHOS...OHIO CITY...LIMA...
SPENCERVILLE
1128 AM EST WED FEB 19 2014 /1028 AM CST WED FEB 19 2014/

...FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY MORNING THROUGH LATE
THURSDAY NIGHT...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTHERN INDIANA HAS ISSUED A

* FLOOD WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHERN INDIANA...SOUTHWEST
  MICHIGAN AND NORTHWEST OHIO...INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING AREAS...
  IN NORTHERN INDIANA...ADAMS...ALLEN IN...BLACKFORD...CASS IN...
   DE KALB...ELKHART...FULTON IN...GRANT...HUNTINGTON...JAY...
  KOSCIUSKO...LA PORTE...LAGRANGE...MARSHALL...MIAMI...NOBLE...
  PULASKI...ST. JOSEPH IN...STARKE...STEUBEN...WABASH...WELLS...
  WHITE AND WHITLEY. IN SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN...BERRIEN...BRANCH...
  CASS MI...HILLSDALE AND ST. JOSEPH MI. IN NORTHWEST OHIO...
  ALLEN OH...DEFIANCE...FULTON OH...HENRY...PAULDING...PUTNAM...
  VAN WERT AND WILLIAMS.

* FROM THURSDAY MORNING THROUGH LATE THURSDAY NIGHT

* A COMBINATION OF MELTING SNOW...MODERATE TO LOCALLY HEAVY
  RAINFALL AND A DEEPLY FROZEN GROUND MAY LEAD TO FLOODING
  THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT.

* RAINFALL AMOUNTS BETWEEN ONE HALF INCH AND ONE INCH ARE LIKELY
  THURSDAY. AN ADDITIONAL ONE TO TWO INCHES OF WATER COULD BE
  RELEASED FROM THE SNOW ON THE GROUND AS IT MELTS.

* MANY STORM DRAINS MAY BE BLOCKED BY DEEP SNOW AND WILL LIKELY
  LEAD TO POOR DRAINAGE OF WATER DURING THIS EVENT. LOW LYING
  AREAS AND LOCATIONS WHERE FLOODING IS TYPICAL ARE ESPECIALLY
  VULNERABLE. DOWNSPOUTS AROUND HOMES MAY ALSO BE BLOCKED BY SNOW
  AND ICE AND COULD LEAD TO WATER BACKING UP IN AND AROUND HOMES.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A FLOOD WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING BASED ON
CURRENT FORECASTS.

YOU SHOULD MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE ALERT FOR POSSIBLE
FLOOD WARNINGS. THOSE LIVING IN AREAS PRONE TO FLOODING SHOULD BE
PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION SHOULD FLOODING DEVELOP.