Yesterday was only the beginning of a renewed prolonged stretch of unsettled and stormy weather. A series of fronts will make a move towards the OHV only to stall out and lift north back as a warm front over the upcoming 7-day period. The end result? An extended stretch of wet, stormy conditions.
Get used to the setup above with a stalled front nearby and waves of low pressure moving along the associated boundaries from time to time. As these ripples of energy scoot along the front, more enhanced showers and thunderstorms can be expected.
It’s still tough from this distance to say with certainty which day(s) will offer up the most widespread shower and thunderstorm coverage in this pattern, but we continue to lean towards Saturday into Sunday. Stay tuned.
Models agree on widespread 1.5″ to 2.5″ rainfall totals over the upcoming week with locally heavier amounts.
Conditions will also return to a warmer than normal theme into the middle of next week. At times, conditions will become oppressive (depending on which side of the front you find yourself on). If heading to the track, ensure you have means to remain cool and pack the rain gear just to be safe!
More later tonight on the long range, including a video recap of our Summer Outlook.
The other big story, especially for those planning to attend the race, will be increasing humidity over the weekend. Forecast dew points will approach and exceed the 70° mark Sunday afternoon, providing a very tropical feel to the air.
Back here on the home front, a quiet start to our Monday will turn stormy at times this evening as the front nears. We think best coverage of showers and thunderstorms will come between 5p and 10p. There will be some winners and losers when it comes to rainfall amounts by midnight. Some can expect over an inch in the stronger storms while others may only see a tenth of an inch, or so. Something that must be taken into forecasts moving forward is the tendency of most model data (high resolution and global data alike) to “over forecast” rainfall amounts as of late. Also of note is for the potential of a couple of strong to severe storms to develop this evening. We always have to be wary of fronts draped across central Indiana as they’ve been known to help tornadic activity spin up. We’ve lost count of how many slight risk days with warm fronts nearby that turn busy… If you’re planning to be outdoors this evening, please have a means of receiving the latest watches and potential warnings that may be issued.
High pressure will build in for the midweek period and supply plentiful sunshine along with continued warmer than average conditions. Overnight lows will fall into the upper 50s (couple of degrees above average) with the drier air mass in place, but afternoon highs will continue to climb into the lower and middle 80s (around 10 degrees above average).
Longer term, thoughts are shifting towards the open to meteorological summer (where is this year going?!). The GFS ensemble suggests the overall warm pattern remains intact as we open a new season with widespread warmth expected through the first few days of the June.
