A break today from severe weather, although scattered showers and storms are still possible, mainly in the afternoon. We’re recovering today from a parade of watches, warnings, and the biggest one-day rain total in almost five months.
What kind of weather closes roads? Your first guess is probably snow or ice or flash flooding.
Friday night’s storms put down so much hail that I-74 had to be closed for several hours between exits 101 and 109. Some drivers tweeted reports of four inches of peas-sized hail on the highway. There were reports of 15 minutes of non-stop hail, and it wasn’t confined to Shelby county. My Twitter feed piled up in a hurry too, with tweets from Shelby and Hancock County:
We just had the craziest hail I have ever seen, or heard, In Fairland! (from @alexiskay2002)
heavy hail in Greenfield right now! (from @aroundindy)
ridiculous hail falling in Greenfield right now! (from @MichelleAndis)
dime and nickel size hail, covering gutter spouts and storm drains in street (from @MichelleAndis)
And the summary from Jennifer Arnott on Facebook: “That hail in Greenfield was something else! Whew.”
Whew, indeed. Insurance adjusters have a busy week ahead of them
Funnel clouds were sighted in Lawrence and Monroe counties, causing tornado warnings and adding sirens to the pre-game noise on the IU campus. I saw several on-line photos of a roll cloud rolling along. They get the name because they appear to be “rolling” about a horizontal axis.
The spin was in on Friday. The Storm Prediction Center reports one Indiana touchdown, in the southeast corner of the state. A tornado touched down briefly in an open field in Switzerland County. Twisters touched down in six states, killing one woman whose trailer was flipped by the winds in Southern Illinois. Overall the tornadoes weren’t nearly as large or as intense as the outbreak of exactly three weeks before.
Horrible hail and twisting winds weren’t the only problems. Yesterday’s 1.34″ of precipitation in Indianapolis was the most recorded for one day since September 25th of last year. Franklin Facebook Friend Mike Hartman: “Paul….I dumped 1.3 inches yesterday morning and just dumped another 3.0 inches out of the gauge this morning. You can turn it off now for a couple of days.”
And it IS going away. Just scattered stuff today, mainly in the afternoon. The upper level low continues to pull away, and gradually the sun will win by Sunday midday and afternoon. Temps will still be above average through the end of the month.
HIGHS ALONG THE PP NETWORK SATURDAY:
64 South Bend
69 Lafayette
66 Muncie/Marion
67 Anderson
68 Indianapolis
66 Evansville
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INDY ALMANAC:
Today’s average high is 55, and the average low is 35. Record high is 84, and the record low is 2. TWO?! Sunrise time is 7:41, and the sun sets at 8:02.
DETAILED INDIANAPOLIS FORECAST:
Today: Mostly cloudy, with scattered showers and storms possible, mainly in the afternoon. High 68.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy. Low 52.
Sunday: Mostly cloudy start, then becoming mostly sunny in the afternoon. High 70.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear. low 46.
Monday; Mostly sunny. High 65.
Monday Night: Mostly clear. Low 42.
Tuesday: Partly cloudy. High 71.
Tuesday Night: Chance of showers and storms. Low 57.
Wednesday: Chance of morning showers and storms, then partly cloudy. High 74.
Wednesday night; Partly cloudy. Low 49.
Thursday: Mostly sunny. High 63.
Thursday Night: Mostly clear. Low 44.
Friday; Mostly sunny. High 63.
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