Cool Air To Ease Back, Summer Weather Set to Return

Another refreshing day in Central Indiana! The morning low was the same as yesterday at 52°. This was 13° below the normal average low of 65. We were one of the warmer spots due to the urban heat island effect. Those away from the city, for lots of areas around the state, got down into the 40s again. Knox, IN dropped to 43° while La Porte, Marion, Logansport, Crawfordsville and Warsaw dropped to 44°. These areas may have been our state's cool spots but certainly not our nation's cold spots. West Yellowstone, Montana and Stanley, Idaho both reached the freeze point at 32° this morning.
For afternoon highs, most areas did reach the 70s. Evansville reached 78° as our state's hotspot and Rochester reached 77. In Indianapolis, we reached 74°. This was 10° below the normal high of 84°. These temps are more typical for mid-late September and even early October. Over the past 142 years,only 10 times has an August 15th been 73° or cooler.
Here's a look back at our month's highs and lows so far.



Temperatures and Dew Points aren't the only thing thats down at the moment, August precipitation is below normal around the state. Looking at the latest drought map released Thursday morning, yellow areas from last week (left below) has been taken out of the map this week (right below). This is because of some beneficial rain that did reach those areas over the past week but these areas are still in a rainfall deficit by a half of a foot. Shelbyville, Indiana is currently over 8" below normal for the year. I've also updated the drought map below.

LOCATION	YEAR TO DATE PRECIP (thru Aug 15)	DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL	PRECIP SINCE JUNE 1	DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL	MONTH TO DATE PRECIP	DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL
BLOOMINGTON	29.09	-2.14	10.08	-1.26	0.25	-1.31
EVANSVILLE	34.31	+4.93	11.76	+2.62	0.62	-0.82
FT. WAYNE	31.52	+6.50	13.85	+3.63	4.26	+2.44
INDIANAPOLIS	29.63	+1.93	7.80	-2.50	0.85	-0.65
INDIANAPOLIS EAGLE CREEK	26.76	-0.11	7.92	-2.14	1.01	-0.40
LAFAYETTE	27.27	+3.57	8.65	-1.03	1.73	+0.12
MUNCIE	23.79	-2.39	7.98	-2.63	1.18	-0.39
SHELBYVILLE	20.09	-8.16	7.78	-2.69	1.95	+0.59
SOUTH BEND	26.53	+3.16	9.23	-0.42	2.64	-0.78
TERRE HAUTE	32.79	+3.61	11.76	+1.02	1.03	-0.48

TONIGHT: We'll be under partly to mostly cloudy skies. Temperatures will once again drop in the 50s but we should be a few degrees warmer. I'm going with 57.
TOMORROW: High Pressure will continue to dominate our forecast. We will be in for another dry & mild day and likely our last day for a little awhile we'll be sub 80. I'm going with a high of 78 under a mix of sun and clouds.
MOTO GP WEEKEND: Temperatures will be going up, dew points will be slooowly creeping up, and because so, there could be an isolated chance for a shower or storm but they will be a very weak chance. Its not very promising. Consider yourself lucky if you happen to get underneath one. Most will stay dry. Temperatures will reach the low 80s on Saturday and mid 80s on Sunday.
NEXT WEEK: The heat and humidity will return. Temperatures will get back to the mid to upper 80s. We technically still have a little over a month left of astronomical summer and average highs continue to remain in the 80s. Its not uncommon to continue to record 90s so late in August. Over the past 18 years, 9 years saw 90s Sept 1st or later. I did put a 90 in my 8 day for both Thursday and Friday next week.



Temperatures may continue to remain 80 & above the rest of the month per the long range GFS model (18z run). Roughly an 1" of rain may fall by the 26th. CPC has released its September outlook. It suggests that rainfall will be up above normal (let's hope so for our lawns sake) but temperatures could go either way.



***8 DAY WEATHER OUTLOOK***
 SUNRISE: 6:58AM | SUNSET: 8:39PM | DAYS UNTIL AUTUMNAL (FALL) EQUINOX: 38
 ABOUT 55% OF THE DAYS THIS SUMMER BELOW NORMAL | DAYS GET SHORTER & NIGHTS GET LONGER
 FALL PREVIEW CONTINUES ON BUT HOTTER SUMMER AIR INVADES NEXT WEEK
 AUGUST PRECIP IS BELOW NORMAL. 25 OUT OF PAST 76 DAYS SAW MEASURABLE RAIN SINCE JUNE 1st

AUGUST 16	AUGUST 17	AUGUST 18	AUGUST 19	AUGUST 20	AUGUST 21	AUGUST 22	AUGUST 23
FRIDAY	SATURDAY	SUNDAY	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY
MOSTLY SUNNY	PARTLY SUNNY	PARTLY SUNNY	PARTLY SUNNY	PARTLY SUNNY	SCT'D T'STORM?	SCT'D T'STORM?	SCT'D T'STORM?
BELOW NORMAL	WARMER	SEASONAL	WARMER	HEAT SURGES	HUMID	HOTTER	HOT!
78	82	84	86	88	89	90	91
62	64	64	68	70	71	72	72