Severe Weather Possible Thursday Night, Cool Down Coming

A weather map showing a severe thunderstorm risk for parts of Indiana, with hazards like damaging winds, isolated tornadoes, and heavy rain that may lead to localized flooding. The map includes city names and a legend. — Source: NWS Indianapolis

STATEWIDE-Severe weather could be a problem for Indiana Thursday night. It’s also an unseasonably warm day across the state.

“Dew points in the low 70s and that’ll create the heat indices of 100 to about 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Wind gusts today could be 20 to 30 miles per hour at times and that keeps the air moving,” said Matt Eckhoff, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Indianapolis.

Eckhoff says severe weather is definitely in play both this evening and overnight.

“We’ll see. I think the best chances are farther north and west and storms should weaken as they move south and east. The strong wind gusts are the primary hazards. An isolated tornado or some large hail cannot be ruled out, especially northwest of Indy and into Illinois. But by the time the storms make it to Indiana, they’ll probably grow into a line of storms, which makes the damaging wind gusts the primary hazard along with some localized flooding if it rains hard enough,” said Eckhoff.

After Thursday, Eckhoff says a cool down is coming.

“A cold front comes through and we have a little bit of a cool down. So back to normal temperatures, highs in the low 80s, Friday and Saturday, and some lower humidity as well. That’s going to feel nice,” said Eckhoff.

He says the next chance for storms after Thursday is likely going to be on Sunday.

“It’s hard to tell right now if it’s going to be severe or not, but right now it’s not looking too impressive, but that could change with time. So always stay tuned to the forecast and the updates that come out,” said Eckhoff.