textproduct: Indianapolis

KEY MESSAGES

- Lows tonight near to below freezing.

- Warmer temperatures arrive for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

- Next best chances for showers and thunderstorms will be Tuesday Night into Wednesday.

SHORT TERM (This evening through Saturday)

Issued at 308 PM EDT Fri Mar 27 2026

Clouds continue to linger across central Indiana, prolonging the cooler temperatures into the afternoon hours. Current satellite does show the cloud deck starting to thin slightly in a few spots, and the expectation is that erosion will slowly continue through remainder of the day. Should clouds erode in time, the forecast highs of mid 40s to low 50s could still be realized but there unfortunately remains only moderate confidence at this time.

Tonight, skies will start to clear out during the early morning with radiational cooling expected to bring lows back below freezing.

The surface low that brought storms last night will continue to exit further east through tomorrow. In its place, an expanded surface high will meander through the Ohio Valley Saturday allowing for calmer winds, clear skies, and a pleasant spring day.

LONG TERM (Saturday night through Friday)

Issued at 308 PM EDT Fri Mar 27 2026

Upper flow will turn mainly zonal for much of next week with a subtle upper short wave or two bringing rain and thunder chances from Tuesday and on. By Sunday, surface winds will solidly be out of the south to southwest behind a passing surface high pressure system, allowing for a return of above normal temperatures. The pattern for next week will help keep temps above normal for quite some time with the exception of brief reprieves following fronts associated with the upper waves expected to move through.

By Tuesday Night, Indiana will be solidly in the warm sector ahead of an approaching cold front associated with the previously mentioned upper wave. Again, as we have seen with recent systems, another round of showers and storms will be expected as this system passes on Tuesday night and Wednesday. In the wake of the front on Wednesday, the roller coaster temperature ride will continue as cold air advection returns sending temperatures back to the 50s for highs. There does remain uncertainty as to what time the front will pass through so timing on temperatures and PoPs comes with only moderate confidence at this time.

Looking at Thursday, there remains further uncertainty as strong high pressure remains overt the Great Lakes but the frontal boundary is suggested to linger across KY and TN as a weak area of low pressure passes. Depending upon how far south that frontal boundary gets, will likely determine our rain chances through the end of the week.

AVIATION (18Z TAF Issuance)

Issued at 138 PM EDT Fri Mar 27 2026

Impacts:

- Occasional gusts with MVFR ceilings through 20Z

Discussion:

The shortwave is quickly pushing eastward with a surface high building in its wake. This has created a large area of MVFR stratus today. Satellite observations show the back edge of the stratus slowly reaching central Indiana, with KHUF and KLAF likely to first reach VFR around 20Z. KIND and KBMG will likely have intermittent MVFR through 22Z. VFR is expected through the rest of the TAF period.

Winds will initially breezy sustained between 8-12kt out of the north. There will be sporatic gusts to 20kt over the next few hours. As the high builds in winds will start to calm, and remain below 10kt from 02Z onward. As they calm tomorrow the wind direction will become variable, slowly switching to a predominant SE/S direction in the evening.

IND WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

None.