With a midday and afternoon breeze to 30 mph it will feel like the 50s all day Saturday. There could be a few showers this afternoon.
Showers are possible all day for NewsTalk 95-3 listeners in Michiana. The sun will be out, and temps hit the low 70s in Q102-land around Evansville.
Temperatures fall just in time for Fall today. The Autumnal Equinox happens at 10:49 Saturday morning. On the equinox, the earth’s tilt is perfectly perpendicular to the sun’s radiation. If you were on the sun it would appear Earth was tilted neither toward or away from you. At the equator, the sun will be directly overhead at solar noon today.
This is the day every point on the earth will have 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. Sorta, kinda. Your mileage may vary with latitude, for a couple of reasons.
Sunrise is defined as the moment light becomes visible from the sun’s disk. Since the edge of the sun’s disk is visible before the center point of the sun, this produces a little more daylight time. Sunset is defined as the moment the sun’s disk is no longer visible. Sunset occurs after the sun’s center point has set. This also produces a little more daylight.
There is also refraction within the atmosphere. Refraction makes the sun appear higher than it really is. This produces more daylight time than would occur if the earth had no atmosphere. (Handy that it does.)
For people living in the mid-latitudes, the period of exactly 12-hours of light occurs a few days after the fall equinox and a few days before the spring equinox. In Indy the sun will rise at 7:35 and set at 7:36 on Tuesday, the 25th. (AM, and PM, respectively. This isn’t Alaska!)
Speaking of the sun rising and setting, Facebook follower Chris Maggart of Lapel snapped the above photo of Friday’s sunrise. He wrote: “I kept hearing in my head “Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.” I guess it was time to heed to the warning after the storms we had tonight.”
Score one for the sailors. Friday night featured downpours and large enough hail to trigger some storm warnings. My Twitter followers really, uh, measured up:
@Steve_Vinson: @PaulPoteet pinky toenail sized hail in Butler-Tarkington at 7:30
@bethshafferscot: @PaulPoteet Mini marshmallow sized hail in Brownsburg
@IndyFoodBlog: @PaulPoteet Lentil-size hail on the Westside of #indy. twitpic.com/ax0tv7 #indywx
INDY ALMANAC:
The average high today is 75 and the average low is 53. Records are 93 and 37. Sunrise time is 7:33 and sunset is 7:41.
PAUL’S PREVIOUS PREDICTION:
The actual high yesterday was 67. The forecast was 70.
UV INDEX:
4 (Moderate.)
POLLEN COUNT:
Medium today and tomorrow. Medium-low Monday, and medium Tuesday.
DETAILED INDIANAPOLIS FORECAST:
Today: Mostly to partly cloudy. Spotty showers are possible in the afternoon, with winds gusting to 30 mph. High 63.
Tonight: Clearing. Low 40.
Sunday: Mostly sunny. High 60.
Sunday Night: Clear. Low 38.
Monday: Sunny. High 65.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy. Low 52.
Tuesday: Partly cloudy. Slight shower/storm chances. High 70.
Tuesday Night: Shower/storm chances. Low 59.
Wednesday: Shower/storm chances. High 74.
Wednesday Night: Slight shower/storm chances. Low 54.
Thursday: Partly cloudy. High 71.
Thursday Night: Partly cloudy. Low 54.
Friday: Partly cloudy. High 72.
Never miss me! Subscribe for free. My Huge Radar has real-time weather tracking, current temperatures, and severe weather watches and warnings. Get detailed Indiana conditions by clicking here. Click here to see my central Indiana 7-Day Forecast. Follow these links to get my forecasts for Lafayette, Muncie, Hendricks County, and Hamilton County. Need a second opinion? Click here for central Indiana National Weather Service forecasts. (Some charts via WeatherBELL.)