Keeping an Eye to the Sky

The first wave of storms which was the most dangerous has moved well north and west of Lafayette. This is the good news. Notice the tornado reports in Wisconsin just north of Madison and near Stevens Point. It is a good thing I called my relatives in the Badger state. My sister-in-law was on her way to the Brewers game. Shelli was certainly watching the sky a little closer after I got off the phone with her. Miller Park has a retractable roof so the Brewers game should go on, but it will be interesting to see how all of the glass at the stadium holds up in a hail storm that I am forecasting. Stay away from that glass Shelli!

Closer to home, I still think by time the storms arrive in our viewing area this squall line producing the severe weather you see above will weaken considerably. All the upper-level dynamics continue to quickly lift well to our north and west and now that we are losing a lot of the daytime heating, I will stand by the main threats being 45 mph wind gusts, small hail, and of course lightning. It should move our way between 9 p.m. and 12 a.m. so make sure to be prepared. We still cannot rule out a strong storm or two. I do not think we will have a severe thunderstorm watch box based on this latest Storm Prediction Center discussion map.

Isolated severe thunderstorms are expected in the orange area so the tornado watch may be extended in localized areas right on the Indiana-Illinois border. Here in Indiana we have a slight chance of a weather watch, but of course we will not let our guard down. I have a call into the Storm Prediction Center. Brian Smith, my old intern will update us here in a bit! Stay tuned for more updates!