INDIANAPOLIS — It is Carb Day, and the whole state is wondering about our upcoming storms today. Look for a mainly dry day, including for the American Legion 500 Festival Memorial Service at noon. Right now, we are looking for the rain and storms to move in to the Indy metro area after 5 p.m., which means the end of the George Thorogood & The Destroyers and Gin Blossoms concert could be threatened. Look for a high of 84 today.
Saturday looks beautiful for the AES Indiana 500 Festival Parade. There could be showers very early in the morning, but most of the day is fine.
Humidity and a chance for storms returns for the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500, and here is a long breakdown of the day.
Rain and a storm or two moves into Indiana after 9 am. From 9 a.m. to midnight, a line of rain and storms may move through the state.
There may be some dry time between noon and 2 p.m.
Sunday afternoon:
- An area of low pressure moves through Illinois and into western Wisconsin. A warm front will slowly move through Indiana, and after 2 p.m., the atmosphere will destabilize a bit. At that time, rain and thunderstorms could form in the area in back of the front. Because of the atmospheric conditions, severe weather is not out of the realm of possibility in these storms.
- Remember that the morning rain/storms could affect the atmosphere and the formation of severe storms during the day. Personally, I am interested to see if any supercells form. That would be a worst-case scenario.
- 101 laps to make the race official? If they dry the track quickly enough after the last of the morning rain/storms (about an hour and a half), we may see enough dry weather to start the 500.
- We could get some storms during that 2-6 p.m. time. Sunset is not until a little after 9 p.m., so there are a lot of hours to get those laps in. Hopefully that is possible.
Thoughts from Chuck:
- This does not remind me of the tornado outbreak Indy 500 20 years ago, even though severe storms are possible. It does, however, bring to mind 2007, when the race was stopped after 182 laps. There had been a threat of storms all day then. The race was stopped after Lap 113 and then started back up, after a long delay around 6:15 p.m.
- It is important to remember that the Indy 500 has been shortened, I believe, only seven times, and it has only been postponed in 1915, 1986 and 1997. We will keep finessing the forecast as more data comes in, keeping people safe and hoping for the best.
