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Live Doppler 13 Weather Blog: Dangerous heat with severe storm potential today

Heat indices will be 100°+ for the next several hours, outside of any heavy storms that may develop.
Credit: WTHR

INDIANAPOLIS — Ready or not, the well-advertised heat wave is here and it's already producing dangerous hot, humid conditions. In fact, today is just the 37th day in the past 30 years in Indianapolis with a dewpoint of 78°+. That's highly humid and as bad as the Muggy Meter gets around.

This highly tropical air, combined with temperatures in the mid/upper 80s, makes it "feel like" 100°+ across all of central Indiana. Please take this heat seriously. We recommend limiting outdoor time if possible and/or taking frequent hydration breaks, seeking shade, and taking A/C breaks when you can.

This miserably muggy air will be here until our next cool front passes through early Friday morning. Between now and then, we're going to be sweating through the hottest air we've experienced since the brutal summer of 2012.  A Heat Advisory goes until 9 p.m. today and we'll have another Tuesday/Wednesday, with the potential of an upgrade to an Excessive Heat Warning. Either way, this heat should be taken seriously.

In addition to the extreme heat, we're also on radar watch this afternoon with extreme "potential" energy in the atmosphere over central Indiana. Whether or not that potential energy will be tapped into is to be determined. All of central Indiana is at risk for severe weather, but there remains a good deal of uncertainty on whether or not an atmospheric "cap" will continue to hold and suppress local storm development. Within the past hour, cells have been noted on radar and these could puncture the "cap" and if they do, there would be explosive development.

We'll also need to monitor a storm complex in Wisconsin that eventually makes a turn to the southeast, potentially intensifying into a destructive wind-maker through parts of the Great Lakes/Ohio Valley. If the aforementioned cap holds, this feature could bypass a decent portion of central Indiana to the east and northeast.

Remain Weather Aware and realize that severe storms could happen quickly today due to the highly moist and unstable nature of the air over us.

Tuesday and Wednesday produce record highs with very little chance of rain. Heat indices will again be in the 100°-110° range as well. Thursday will be another steamer of highs in the 90s with heat indices near 100° before scattered heavy storms emerge along an approaching front.

This front brings relief for Father's Day weekend with a string of sunny days Friday into next Monday, and a significant drop in the Muggy Meter as dewpoints get into the 40s/50s Sunday morning. But we'll earn every bit of that pleasant air the next 72 hours.

Credit: WTHR

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