This has been a quiet Atlantic Hurricane season. While we have had nine named storms, only one Tropical Storm Harold, has made landfall in the U.S. Now, a stronger system is poised to strike western Florida this week. As of 4pm Idalia was 50 miles SSW of the western tip of Cuba. The storm is moving north a 8mph and is packing 70mph winds. Idalia is expected to become a major hurricane with 130 mph winds making it a category 4 hurricane, capable of producing catastrophic damage. Landfall along the Florida coast is expected by Wednesday.

August has been a wet month with almost three inches of rain so far, but Indianapolis has only received .01″ in the rain gauge over the past 11 days. A cold front will move across the state Tuesday evening and will bring a broken line of showers and potentially a few thunderstorms. Rainfall amounts will be light with most areas receiving less than a tenth of an inch of rain.

Behind the cold front, sunny skies will return for Wednesday along with a taste of fall. Expect highs in the 70s with lower humidity through Thursday. Indianapolis has seen 13 days in the 90s this year, we should have 17 of those scorching days by now. Last year by this time, we’d had 21 days in the 90s by this point in the season

We will have a cooler weather pattern for most of this week, don’t get used to it. The jet stream will be lift north late in the week as a ridge builds back over the region. This will stream in more 90° heat for Labor Day weekend and into next week.

Idalia is expected to become a major hurricane.

Tuesday will be a warm, dry day.

This has been a wet month, and after a dry spell, some rain is finally on the way for Tuesday evening.

This will be a mild week for central Indiana.