A cold front to our northwest is sliding southeast. Ahead of the front, a line of showers and storms moved through central Indiana this afternoon. A second line of storms is expected to develop along the cold front and move through the state by 9pm. Some of these storms could be on the stronger side with gusty winds being the primary threat. I wouldn’t rule out some of these storms containing hail. There is a very low probability that these storms will reach “severe” criteria, but a couple of them reaching these limits can’t be ruled out.

Behind the cold front, skies will clear after midnight and temperatures will fall into the mid to upper 50s. Expect a sunny day Friday with temperatures in the upper 70s. However, more wildfire smoke will build overhead, leading to hazy skies.

Get ready for a major weather pattern shift as we go through the weekend. We refer to conditions as a “heat wave” when we have three consecutive days in the 90s. While we’ve been close this summer, it hasn’t happened yet. That chance looks favorable next week. A high pressure “hot dome” has been anchored to the southwestern U.S. This will expand across the nation into the east coast late in the weekend into next week. High temperatures in the 90s are in the forecast from Sunday through Wednesday, giving us our first official heat wave of the season. August has been a wet month so far with almost three inches of precipitation, but rain chances will be limited for most of next week as we deal with the intense heat.

Gusty winds and rain kept temperatures cooler Thursday afternoon.

Scattered storms are likely through 9pm.

A wet summer weather pattern has virtually eliminated the drought across central Indiana.

Air Quality was in the moderate range today and will deteriorate this weekend.

Temperatures and humidity will rise this weekend.