INDIANAPOLIS – Strong to severe storms will move through the Ohio Valley early Thursday, extending into south central Indiana.

Location of strong to severe storms

The best location to see strong thunderstorms in central Indiana will be south of I-70. The biggest severe threat stays to the far southern edge of the state, with the majority of the severe activity outside of Indiana.

Timing incoming storms across Indiana

Rumbles of thunder may be heard as early as 3-4 a.m. More organized and widespread rain will fill out along I-70 around 5 a.m. with some embedded thunderstorms. These showers and storms will continue outside of the timestamps highlighted below, but this window from 5 a.m. through 9 a.m. looks like a good one to be ready to monitor the weather for any storm hazards.

Possible storm hazards Thursday

Damaging winds will be the primary threat with this storm system. Excess lightning along the warm front will cause periods of heavy downpours that may result in minor flooding issues on secondary roadways. Use caution if traveling Thursday morning through the afternoon!

Thursday day planner

The actual high temperatures will be tricky to nail down as we continue to monitor the location of the surface low tracking across the I-70 corridor and the accompanying location of the warm front. The temperature gradient will be sharp across the state. Adjacent cities will range as much as 20 degrees of a temperature difference from one another, depending on which side of the warm front they fall under.

Peak winds from today’s wind advisory

The following are some of the local storm reports (LSR’s) from 7 p.m. Tuesday night to 11 a.m. Thursday morning during the wind advisory. Ridgeville in Randolph County recorded a 56 mph wind gust, just under severe wind criteria.