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Good Wednesday morning. Hope everyone enjoyed the warmest February day in Indiana history Tuesday, after hitting a remarkable 77º in Indianapolis. For today, our high of 69º was reached in Indianapolis at 1:30 this morning which was another record high. The cold front has now pushed through, and temperatures continue to drop into the 40s and 30s, which will make for a raw day. The front is about to stall out, meaning the rain chances just keep on coming in waves over the next several days. Flooding becomes the main concern.
A tremendous amount of rain has fallen over the past few days in northern Indiana, with a swath of 3-5″. This has caused a lot of flooding issues up there. As we head through the second half of the week, the focus for heaviest rain shifts south to the southern half of Indiana.
As we head through the day, rain showers continue to move across central and southern Indiana from southwest to northeast. Northwest third of the state will catch a break this afternoon.
Northern/northwest Indiana needs to lookout for the potential of some refreezing of moisture on roadways as temperatures fall at to slightly below freezing with a brief wintry mix. Watch those untreated surfaces here.
Heading through the day, temperatures may briefly touch freezing in Lafayette to Logansport, but there will be no freezing concerns for Indianapolis and most of central Indiana as temperatures stay above freezing, and most areas do rebound a few degrees this afternoon:
Additional rainfall over the next 18 hours:
A surge of heavier rain will move into southern Indiana overnight into Thursday morning, with showers expanding northward across much of Indiana. We will have to watch surface temperatures in northeast Indiana for the possibility of some freezing rain after midnight through 9am Thursday. The good news is that many areas catch a break in the moisture for Thursday afternoon.
Watch northeast Indiana as temperatures fall to 30-32, with a 2-4 hour window of freezing rain potential to create a few slick spots mainly on untreated surfaces Thursday morning.
The next wave arrives by midnight Thursday night through the first half of Friday with heavy rain and some thunder for the Friday morning commute. Temperatures surge back into the 40s and 50s by Friday morning, and mild air will stick around into the weekend.
The next round arrives after midnight Friday night with Saturday looking like a soggy day. A potent front will move through Saturday night, and this could bring some gusty, locally strong thunderstorms Saturday night. It appears we will finally clear out on Sunday.
Areas south of I-70 still look to see 4-6″ rain totals by Sunday morning. Continue to watch for rising creeks and rivers, as well as lowland flooding.
