Eastern Cornbelt
A few cities include: Columbus, Fort Wayne and Indianapolis.
Local tornado season: Peaks from June through early July.
Terrain: Relatively flat, some hills and forested areas.
Road network: Good in most areas.
Radar coverage: Good, except for northwestern Ohio.
Tornadoes are most common in this region during the summer. With that said, there have been significant tornado events in the spring and occasionally in the fall.
Damaging winds are a common hazard in this area, but large hail is not as frequent as areas farther west. The most robust storms can produce large hail, but very large (2″+) hail is quite rare in this region.
Terrain
The terrain is relatively flat, as much of the area is covered in farmland, hence the “cornbelt” descriptor. There are some patchy areas of trees, most notably in southern Lower Michigan and far northern Indiana. Outside of the large cities and populated areas, the relatively plains-like terrain can be great for observing storms. There are a few rivers and relatively small bodies of water to watch out for. In most cases, these are not a major obstacle when it comes to storm chasing.
Road network
As for the road network, it doesn’t get much better anywhere else in the Eastern time zone. Once north of Indianapolis and northwest of Columbus, most of the road network is set up in a grid-like pattern. Off of the primary roadways, many secondary roads are also paved. This can help zeroing in on a storm be relatively easy. Storm motions can sometimes be quite fast (60+ MPH) and if your path takes you through populated areas, traffic can make keeping up with storms difficult.
Interstate-70 is approximately the southern boundary for this classified chase area. Seven different interstate highways protrude from Indianapolis in all directions. The “Crossroads of America” might be a good starting location for anyone storm chasing in the area.
Farther north, Interstate-90 runs just south of the Michigan border. Storm chasing gets a bit tricky near and north of I-90 due to the prevalence of trees. Interstate-94 is roughly the northern boundary for this chase area as forest density increases north of that corridor.
Radar coverage
One of the challenging aspects of chasing in this region can be radar coverage. While KIND and KIWX do a good job of covering northern and central Indiana, radar data can be scarcer into Ohio. Northwestern Ohio has a notable gap of radar coverage. Assuming all radar sites are operational, one may not completely lose radar coverage in the area. You may start to move into the outer fringes of KILN to the south, KCLE to the east, KIWX to the west and KDTX to the north.
The TDAY Terminal Doppler site helps out in the immediate Dayton area, while TCMH covers the area in and around Columbus. Farther north, KGRR and KDTX do a good job of covering southern Lower Michigan.
In summary, the Eastern Cornbelt region is quite favorable for storm chasing, once you move away from the larger population centers. Radar coverage can be limited in northwestern Ohio and trees come into play on either side of the Indiana/Michigan border, but overall, it’s probably the best place to storm chase in the Eastern time zone.
Notes
Portions of central and northern Lower Michigan have not been included in this chase guide. Tornadoes are certainly not uncommon here, including some notable tornado outbreaks. With that said, the storm chasing terrain gets tougher with northward extent. Since I have not personally visited the area and it’s not commonly storm chased (except for locals), it was not included. It is possible in the future that I may add it, if there is enough interest.