FARMERSBURG, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Thursday the Drought Monitor for the state of Indiana was released showing that the lack of rain and high temperatures has caused drought conditions to worsen throughout much of the Wabash Valley.
“Things have worsened, our northern counties are under what we call a severe drought. And then we have a moderate drought across a good portion of the area including all of Vigo County,” Chief Meteorologist Jesse Walker said. “And then our southern areas are what is called Abnormally Dry”
While the area has been very dry, Walker said there is some hope of possible rainfall on Sunday.
When looking at current patterns across the country, Walker pointed to a change coming this weekend that could help to usher in some rainfall and even the possibility of some storms.
Showing an image of what’s called an Omega Block current pattern, due to the current flowing in the shape of the omega symbol of the Greek alphabet.
“So high pressure in between protects everything, we’ve had the stubborn low southeast of here and the low pressure out west,” Walker said. “That has been the current pattern that’s been going on. But look what changes by the time we hit Sunday and Monday.”
“Sunday night you can see that the Omega block has flattened out, and the high pressure gets suppressed a little bit,” Walker explained. “We get more into what we call a northwest flow, which increases the possibility of some rain chances as complexes develop northwest of here and then move this way.”
When looking at the future cast, Walker said we’ll likely see some storms move across the area early Sunday morning, then have a break for the area before a second round could develop and move into the area in the early afternoon Sunday.
Walker explained that some models have the storms forming more east of the area, while others show the possibility of what is seen in the above forecast graphics.
“A couple maps show some chances of severe weather Sunday, greater chances around 1 pm, some models predict the severe weather could be east of our area by that time, but we’re still a few days away, and things can still change a bit. Northern Indiana might have the highest risk of some severe weather on Sunday,” Walker said.
When discussing the amount of rain possible Walker said it won’t be as much as needed, but it could help with the current conditions. The National Blended Model predicts between a third and a half an inch of rain for the area with most of the heaviest rainfall going east of us to Ohio.
“So, my idea is we’re going to see a fading complex of storms come through Sunday early morning, a break, and then we have to watch mid to late afternoon for the possibility of more storms. Some of those may be a bit strong depending on how things pan out on Sunday.”
For the latest weather forecast as well as interactive radar, visit the MyWabashValley weather page here.
