The first weekend of fall finishes with more August-like temperatures. Indianapolis reached 82° for a high temperature and there are more 80s in the forecast this next week. We’ll see a slight temperature change thanks to an approaching cold front midweek. That same cold front will likely give parts of Central Indiana some desperately needed rainfall.

Monday will be a nice day with mostly sunny skies to start. It’ll also be another warm day with highs in the lower 80s. Clouds will increase in coverage throughout the afternoon and evening. This will all occur ahead of a cold front that will move its way east, bringing a brief period of cooler temperatures and needed rainfall to Central Indiana.

The best chances for rain will be later Tuesday and Wednesday with lesser chances early Thursday. Low-level moisture from the remnants of Ophelia on the east coast will attempt to move west. That combined with the moisture from the approaching cold front will assist in giving us the needed rain. During this time, temperatures will cool off to around normal in the low-to-mid 70s on Wednesday and Thursday.

As it stands right now, September has only seen 0.17″ of rain at the Indy Airport. If the month ended, it would finish as the second driest September on record. Hopefully, good downpours will come from this front. A few thunderstorms are possible, especially on Wednesday.

After the rain moves east, the upper-level trough bringing in cooler air will again be replaced with a building ridge. This, in time, will allow warmer temperatures to move back into Central Indiana with highs in the lower 80s by Friday and into next weekend. It also looks to bring another sunny stretch to end September and begin October.