Ryan Martin’s Indiana Ag Forecast for December 18, 2018

Another dry day in store today over the state, with high pressure in control. We slide onto the backside of the high overnight tonight, allowing for some south wind to develop. That will bring better cloud chances tomorrow. louds will be on the increase from tomorrow midday on through the afternoon and overnight. While we still think the best chances of precipitation upcoming are from later Thursday through Friday, we are seeing some signs that point to some hit and miss rain potential already Thursday morning. Coverage and amounts will be minor, but there can be some spits and sprinkles around. Rain from later Thursday through Friday should end up being a little lighter and coverage a little lower. We look for half an inch or less over about 70% of the state.  The map at right shows rain totals through Saturday morning.

We are dry for the balance of Saturday and most of Sunday morning and early afternoon. Much colder air will be blasting into the region, taking temps to below normal levels. We are leaving our chance of some light snow overnight Sunday night through early Monday and leaving snow totals at a coating to at most an inch. Coverage is getting pulled back to 40%, and we think the best chances will be in the northern third of the state

We are dry from Monday night through the 27^th. We do expect temps to stay cold through the period. We also will be watching the Tuesday (Christmas Day) period very closely, as some models this morning are trying to bring precipitation back into the state. With the cold air, the biggest threat would be snow. However, this is a sharp change in our forecast, and we do not make changes based on one model run. So, our forecast stays the same this morning, and we will sift through any new data through the day today. Warmer air starts to arrive on south winds late on the 27^th ahead of precipitation that starts to fall for the 28^th. We expect rain. Moisture continues moving over the state with at least 2 more waves on through January 2^nd. For now, we are leaving liquid equivalent precipitation totals at half to 1.25” and coverage at 100% of the state. The predominant precipitation type will be rain, but there is plenty of time for the pattern to change before we get there.