Highlights:
- Nice weekend
- Rain returns Sunday night-Monday
- Strong storm potential Wednesday PM
- Cold close to the week
Sunshine Should Make An Appearance Today…The weekend is opening chilly, including wind chills around freezing this morning. Hang in there- sunshine should at least make an appearance later on this afternoon and Sunday certainly looks to be a brighter day, overall, before clouds increase late and give way to showers overnight into Monday morning.
We’re back to sunshine Tuesday before a stronger storm begins to impact the state Wednesday. A rather robust area of low pressure will track into the Great Lakes region Wednesday night and help pull a briefly warmer, increasingly moist air mass into the area. Potential is present for strong to severe thunderstorms Wednesday evening into the nighttime. We’ll then transition to a much cooler regime to close the week and with low pressure slowly pivoting through the Ohio Valley, showers will continue Thursday into Friday. In fact, the air may grow cold enough to allow for a few wet snowflakes to mix with the rain by Friday morning.
Upcoming 7-Day Precipitation Forecast:
- Snowfall: 0.00″
- Rainfall: 1.75″ – 2.25″
Precipitation is running above normal, locally, to the tune of nearly 1″ month-to-date. Heaviest rains have fallen across southeastern Indiana over the past (30) days.
A look at precipitation anomalies across the mid west, month-to-date:
As we progress through the upcoming (10) days, a transient weather pattern will persist. This will keep forecasters busy, but it should also be stressed it’s not all a “doom and gloom” type pattern, either. There will be plenty of dry time over the upcoming period, including drier conditions building in tomorrow (Tuesday) into a good chunk of Wednesday.
However, timing is our friend this go around as upper ridging develops over the upcoming weekend. Not only will we dry out, but we’ll also enjoy increasing sunshine as the weekend progresses.
That said, looking further down the pipe line, another (potentially more significant) storm system looms during the 8-10 day period. This would fall in the April 3rd-4th time frame. From this distance, models are bullish on hefty rainfall totals with this storm system and we’ll keep a close eye on things as time draws closer.
Speaking of April, our overall thoughts for the fourth month of the year (where does time go?) would imply a warmer than average month and active (wetter than average). Relative to average, we feel we still may have some chill to traverse early month, but there’s also some indication we could bust into an early summer-like feel mid and late month. With the mean trough position west and ridging east, we’ll have to also be mindful for the potential of an active severe weather month- especially mid and late month. Overall, the CanSIPS idea below is one we would agree with from a mean 500mb perspective.
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2.) Speaking of cold, to-date, March is running slightly colder than average (by 1.1°). Note the spring and summer-like warmth across the SW. “Pieces” of that warmth will eject northeast in modified fashion late March into April.
3.) High pressure will supply a dry, but cold Wednesday. Highs will run close to 10° below average (lower 40s), but at least we’ll enjoy the sun!
4.) Temperatures will begin to warm as we progress through the latter portions of the week. We’ll be near seasonal norms Thursday (low 50s), and above normal Friday into the weekend (mid-upper 60s). With the warmer air, rain and storm chances will also be on the increase. As of now, we target best rain chances late Saturday into Sunday. A couple thunderstorms are also possible. Rainfall totals of 0.50″-1.00″ seem like a good bet with locally heavier amounts.
5.) This is just the beginning of an active stretch of weather to wrap up the month of March. (3) additional storms will have to be monitored next week. Accordingly, precipitation anomalies will run above normal.
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3.) Sunshine can be expected today and after the frigid beginning, a moderating trend will begin this afternoon that will send temperatures into the lower to middle 40s. That’s still close to 10° below average for daytime highs, but will feel much better than what we’ve been dealing with over the past several days. Add in that high March sun angle and it’ll actually be a very pleasant afternoon.
4.) Unfortunately, we won’t hang on to the sunshine for St. Patrick’s Day. A warm front will lift northeast through the region during the overnight and lead to an increase in clouds by evening. A wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain will impact central IN predawn Friday morning before transitioning to showers mid-to-late morning. “Light” is the key word here with models suggesting less than 0.20″ total. By Friday afternoon we’re back to dry times.
5.) We’ll turn a touch cooler Saturday and it’ll be a blustery day, as well. A couple of early snow showers are possible across east and northeast portions of the state before afternoon sunshine returns. High pressure settles in overhead Saturday evening and will set up a nice second half of the weekend- lots of sunshine and milder temperatures by Sunday (lower 50s).
6.) Looking ahead, the quiet times will be hard to come by as we progress through the latter portions of the month. Both the new JMA Weeklies (shown below) and other ensemble guidance is bullish on a wetter than average close to the month, and also one that features wild temperature swings. Thoughts shift back to severe prospects, especially for our friends to our south and the potential of backlash wet snow showers in the colder air. From a temperature perspective, it’s a pattern that will be very “transient” with no true long-lasting periods of significant warmth, or cold- relative to average.
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