As Thanksgiving and the “official” kickoff to the holiday season nears, the weather pattern sure appears as if it’ll become a bit more hectic and busy in nature. In the short-term, we’re forecasting another significant wind event Thursday. While likely not to the magnitude of what we saw across central IN last Sunday, sustained southwest winds of 20-25 MPH will develop Thursday with gusts approaching 50 MPH.
That leads us to Friday and the upcoming weekend. While most of the day Friday will be rain-free, we’ll notice a lowering and thickening cloud deck by afternoon and evening and light rain will eventually follow. This has to do with a “wavy” frontal boundary that will be draped across the central Ohio Valley. It was only a couple of days ago where most modeling pegged this frontal boundary to lie across the southern Great Lakes region (which would’ve led to a warmer and drier weekend, locally). Alas, we can expect periods of light rain and chilly weather Saturday with heavier, steadier rain arriving Sunday as the cold front sweeps through the region. Drier and cooler air will then filter into the region as we progress through the early parts of Thanksgiving week, itself.
Model data agrees that between 1″ and 1.3″ of rain will fall across immediate central Indiana with this event (total between Friday night and Sunday). Officially, on a broader scale, we’ll forecast 0.75″ to 1.25″ with locally heavier amounts possible.
After a quieter couple of days to open Thanksgiving week, itself, we’re tracking 2 additional storms next week. The first will likely arrive Wednesday with gusty showers and blustery conditions.
The 2nd storm system will blow into town Friday and Saturday. The trade-off in between, if we’re lucky, will be a pleasant (seasonably cool and dry) Thanksgiving holiday.
To no surprise, the European ensemble sees a wetter than normal close to the month upcoming, including a good chunk of the Ohio Valley, Southeast, and East Coast.
