Pleasant Weekend Gives Way To A Stormy Week Ahead…

It was a stormy Friday across central Indiana, including hail, damaging winds, and localized flash flooding.  Thankfully, as we open the weekend, weather conditions are much more pleasant.  The surface front that helped trigger the bumpy close to the work week has pushed south and is allowing a much more pleasant (much drier and slightly cooler) air mass to ooze into the region.  With the exception of patchy fog across southern Indiana, skies are mostly sunny.

Patchy fog will burn off by 10a across southern Indiana.
A cooler and less humid feel is greeting us out the door this morning.

Pleasant weather will remain through the majority of Sunday, but we’ll begin to notice an uptick in humidity late in the day.  This is a harbinger of things to come as a true tropical feel lifts back north.  Factor in the increasing moisture levels (it’ll feel oppressive by mid-week) with increasing amounts of energy and instability and big storms will likely result.

A moisture-rich air mass will engulf the region much of the upcoming work week.

The core of the heat will be centered over the western half of the country next week and with a northwest flow aloft, we’ll have to remain on guard for individual disturbances tracking southeast into the Mid West and Ohio Valley.  These will help trigger more widespread storm coverage from time-to-time through the week.  Similar to the storms yesterday, large hail, damaging winds, and flash flooding are the biggest concerns with these storm complexes.  7-day rainfall totals through late-week will feature widespread 2″-3″ across central Indiana, including locally heavier amounts of 3″-6″ in spots where storms train.  We’ll have to sure-up specific storm timing as we get closer.

As we look ahead, timing, once again, may be our friend, as modeling currently suggests a drier regime returns by next weekend.

Make it a great Saturday, friends!  More later!

Strong Storm Potential Friday Before A Pleasant Saturday…

Highlights:

  • Strong-to-severe storms Friday
  • Pleasant Saturday
  • Humidity and storms return

Active Friday For Some…Before we can discuss the pleasant and absolutely gorgeous weather conditions that will welcome in the weekend, we have to deal with a potentially “bumpy” few hours Friday afternoon into the early evening across portions of the state.

Central Indiana is under the gun for severe weather Friday.

The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) outlines central and southern portions of the state for the threat of severe weather Friday.  Damaging straight line winds are the greatest concern with a line of storms that develop Friday afternoon and push southeast.  Drier weather will quickly build in behind a cold front Friday evening and help usher in a very pleasant open to the weekend.  We’ll certainly notice the lower dew points Saturday and cooler feel with plentiful sunshine.  Enjoy it!

Unfortunately the pleasant and dry conditions won’t last very long, and shower chances return as quickly as Sunday afternoon.  Humidity and a true tropical feel will also engulf the region next week.  This, combined with upper air disturbances moving through the Mid West and Ohio Valley, will aid in daily “splash and dash” thunderstorm coverage.  With a moisture-rich air mass in place, stronger storms will produce torrential downpours.  Overall, the active and unsettled summer that central Indiana has grown accustomed to shows no signs of let-up in the week ahead…

Upcoming 7-Day Precipitation Forecast:

  • Snowfall:  0.00″
  • Rainfall:  2.00″-3.00″ (locally higher totals)

“Rinse & Repeat” Pattern…

As we look deeper into mid and late July, the one item that continues to stand out in our weather pattern is a lack of any serious heat, relative to average. It’s obvious that the “hot dome” really wants to set up shop over the Rocky Mountain region and while brief “spurts” of warmer air will try to eject out towards our region, the balance of the medium and longer range looks to be dominated by a northwest flow aloft and seasonal to slightly below average conditions. 





At least through mid-July, this will keep the west and Rocky Mountain region well above average and promote seasonal to cooler than average conditions, overall, for our region. 



Monday Morning Rambles…

An early look at the radar this morning shows a couple of lone storms near Decatur and Blufton. These are moving off to the east. 

While we’ll maintain mention of a widely scattered thunderstorm today and Independence Day, the majority of both days will remain rain-free. 

A wave of low pressure will track through the Ohio Valley Wednesday night into Thursday and this will result in an uptick in storm coverage. Locally heavy rainfall will be possible. While some localized totals could be higher, we think widespread rains of 1″-1.5″ is a good bet Wednesday night into Thursday. 

High pressure will build in over the weekend and aid in a drier and cooler theme.

Lows will return to the 50s across central Indiana Sunday morning and refreshing (upper 50s at night and upper 70s to lower 80s during the day) air will remain with us into early next week.