Moisture moves into Indiana a little faster in our forecast this morning, but that does not mean we are losing opportunity…we are just shifting our dry days around a little bit. Last week, going home on Friday, we were looking for moisture to hit for Tuesday and Wednesday. We are about 24 hours ahead of schedule this morning. By mid morning we will see rains spreading across southern Indiana, and by late this afternoon, we see rain threats over most of the state. Draw a line this morning from Terra Haute to Portland. South and east of that line we expect rains today to be from .25” to .75” with coverage at 80%. North and west of that line, we see a few hundredths to a tenth…that is about it, over 40% of the region. Scattered action holds over the state through tomorrow, bringing chance for an additional few hundredths to .15” of rain, but only 60% coverage. We should see everything done by late tomorrow afternoon. Combined rain totals will be near an inch in parts of far southern Indiana. The map below shows potential rain totals now through midnight tomorrow night.

So, with the rain arriving sooner, it leaves sooner, and we get a dry Wednesday and a dry Thursday. Temps today will be near normal, same tomorrow, and we should be slightly below normal for the dry days, Wednesday and Thursday. But, temps will still be pleasant, and we should see some drying.

A long, sweeping front moves though the state for Friday. Moisture does not look overly impressive, but we do see nearly 90% coverage as the front passes over all parts of the state. Rain totals will be .1”-.4”. But, action is done by sunset Friday night.

A nice dry window emerges for the weekend through next Tuesday. Temps will be near to slightly below normal as high pressure sets up over the top of us. This should provide a good window for field work, at least for a couple of days, maybe more for areas that get the lower end of the rain range from Friday’s front.

A strong, powerful front brings rain and thunderstorms for next Tuesday night through Wednesday. Rain totals look to be .5”-1” with coverage at 100% of the state. Strong to severe weather is possible from the front.

The entire 11-16 day period is free of significant rainfall at this time. We should see a dry window from next Thursday afternoon through at least the 8^th. Temps will be slightly below normal as a Canadian high dominates that dry period, but still, we should see enough drying to allow for fieldwork in that window. Sunshine will dominate.

So, the forecast looks better than the past few weeks, with enough space in-between systems to allow for planting. Today’s action in southern Indiana will trigger some delays, but Friday will be the day we keep our fingers crossed for as little rain as possible from that front. If we escape with only a tenth or two…we should see significant planting progress as we head toward May tenth. Temps still lag normal for the most part, but are staying closer to it as we flip the calendar into May.

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