INDIANAPOLIS — You don't need us to tell you that it's been very dry in central Indiana as much of the state is experiencing expanding abnormally dry to severe drought conditions.
Though there was some much-needed rainfall southeast and south of I-70 on Tuesday... it's not nearly enough. Since April 1, Indianapolis and many areas are nearly 7" below normal rainfall. This preceded what was a rather damp March.
But conditions flipped quickly late-May into early June to cause flash drought conditions. Only spotty showers are expected this evening and Wednesday – despite increased cloud cover over the southeastern half of the state. These clouds are moving in from the east-northeast due to the counter-clockwise rotation around low pressure to our south.
Farther removed from this system, it's mainly sunny and hotter west and northwest where it's near 90°. There's a similar set-up on deck Wednesday as summer officially begins with the summer solstice at 10:57 a.m. EDT in central Indiana.
That's when the sun's direct rays reach the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere – resulting in the most daylight of the year. After June 21, daylight decreases each day until the winter solstice on Dec. 21.
We'll be watching the track of the low pressure system closely later this week with some modeling suggesting it drifts back toward central Indiana Thursday into Friday. Depending on the exact track, this could result in increased shower coverage and "cooler" temperatures in the upper 70s.
For now, I'm not overly bullish on this idea and have a drier forecast than some of the wetter modeling. But this could change, so check back for potential impacts to outdoor plans both of those days.
Better prospects of heavier rain and thunderstorms may emerge over the Ohio Valley next week with stronger wind-fields arriving. Let's hope that materializes for some much-needed soakers.
