Drought Information Statement for Central Indiana
Valid January 9, 2026
Issued By: National Weather Service WFO Indianapolis, IN
Contact Information: nws.indianapolis@noaa.gov
This product will be updated February 6, 2026 or sooner if drought conditions change significantly.  
Please see all currently available products at https://drought.gov/drought-information-statements.
Please visit https://www.weather.gov/IND/DroughtInformationStatement for previous statements. 
Please visit https://www.drought.gov/drought-status-updates for regional drought status updates.
Extreme Drought (D3) in place over almost 10 percent of Indiana
Moderate Drought (D1) or worse covers over 36% of the state

U.S. Drought Monitor

Drought intensity and Extent
D3 (Extreme Drought): Carroll, Clinton, Delaware, Howard, Madison, Randolph, Tipton
D2 (Severe Drought): Boone, Fountain, Hamilton, Montgomery, Parke, Tippecanoe, Vermillion, Vigo, Warren
D1 (Moderate Drought): Hancock, Henry
D0: (Abnormally Dry): Clay, Daviess, Jackson, Jennings, Hendricks, Knox, Marion, Morgan, Putnam, Rush, Sullivan

Recent Change in Drought Intensity

Four Week Drought Monitor Class Change. 
Drought Worsened: Northwestern and northern portions of central Indiana, as well as southern Indiana mainly along the Ohio River
 
No Change: Most of central Indiana and northeast Indiana

Drought Improved: A few counties in northern Indiana

Precipitation
Most of central and southern Indiana have seen 25 to 75% of normal precipitation, while a small part of central-most and along the northern border saw just over 100% of normal

Temperature
The 30 day max temperature anomaly is 1 to 3 degrees above normal over southwestern Indiana and near normal elsewhere

Summary of Impacts
Hydrologic Impacts 
Streamflow less than the 10th percentile for many Indiana basins for this time of year
Some dry ponds and streambeds

Agricultural Impacts
There are no known impacts at this time

Fire Hazard Impacts
There are no known impacts at this time

Other Impacts
There are no known impacts at this time

Mitigation Actions
There are no known impacts at this time

Hydrologic Conditions and Impacts
All basins in the state but those along the Michigan border have below to much below normal 7 day average streamflow
Many basins across central Indiana have streamflow below the 10th percentile for this time of year, and some individual gauges are showing the lowest streamflow recorded for this time of year

Seven Day Precipitation Forecast
Significant precipitation is not in the forecast at this time for Indiana through January 16th
Highest forecast precipitation amounts for the next 7 days are up to half an inch over northern Indiana 

Drought Outlook
The latest monthly and seasonal outlooks can be found on the CPC homepage
Drought is forecast to improve or come to an end over Indiana through March 31st