INDIANAPOLIS — Welcome sunshine is desperately needed after another unseasonally chilly start in the lower 20s. The bright sky teams up with a steady southwest wind to boost highs into the lower 50s -- a good 15°-20° warmer than the winterish weekend we endured.
Astronomical Spring officially begins with the vernal equinox, which officially takes place at 5:24 p.m. EDT. Meteorological Spring began March 1, which makes climate record-keeping easier instead of splitting months.
Some mid-and-high-level clouds in the sky this evening only provide a reflector to what should be a vibrant sunset around 8 p.m. They also serve notice of our next weather system that eventually brings a return to rain in central Indiana.
However, that doesn't occur until late Tuesday with much of the daylight hours tomorrow dry and warming. Highs climb near 60° Tuesday afternoon despite in an increase in clouds.
After 5 p.m. tomorrow, expect showers to increase for the remainder of the evening and be widespread before midnight.
This bout of rain looks to be light but is the beginning of several rounds of rain to move through central Indiana between Tuesday evening and the opening of the weekend.
On-and-off showers hang around Wednesday, but again, falling for several hours at any location and some with nothing at all. The warmest air this week arrives Wednesday night into Thursday with a strengthening southwesterly wind.
Highs reach near 70° Thursday before a cold front creeps south through the WTHR coverage area. This front triggers showers and some thunderstorms Thursday afternoon and becomes the tracks of widespread rain Thursday evening into Friday.
Rain will be heavy at times due to higher moisture content in the atmosphere and "training" of the rain in a slow fashion near and north of the front.
Modeling remains bullish on a good portion of central Indiana getting over 2" of rainfall by Saturday morning.
Stay tuned for updates with the potential of some flooding.
