INDIANAPOLIS — Much of the day clouds have had more bark than bite. And areas farther north and northwest have enjoyed a much brighter sky on the drier side of a slow-moving cool front turtling through central Indiana.
Near, and especially east-southeast, with that front, we're starting to see showers and eventually some thunderstorms developing. The greatest rain/storm coverage this afternoon/evening will be along and east-southeast of I-70/69, including the Indy metro area. Downpours and lightning are main threats today, but there's also a slim chance that a few cells produce funnels near the front. In this type of setup, it would be unlikely that they would touch down, but we won't be surprised to hear reports of funnels today south of Indy.
Any cells that do develop will be heat-fueled and diminish near/after sunset. Morning clouds may offer some breaks for a little sun early Wednesday, but we'll be on radar watch in the afternoon going into evening, with the expectation of scattered to numerous downpours/thunderstorms moving in from the south.
Like today, there may be enough low-level instability/windshear/moisture to produce either funnels and/or brief tornadoes south of I-70. We'll update in the morning.
Additional heavy rain and thunderstorms continues into Thursday. The location of a stronger cool front with a sharper temperature gradient will be key to severe weather potential. The latest modeling puts the eastern half of the state within the warmer/humid side, which puts not only heavy rain but potentially severe storms in play Thursday afternoon/evening east of I-65.
The cooler, showery side of the front arrives Thursday night into Friday but departs just in time for what looks to be a sunny, pleasant weekend.
