Fox 59

After ‘feasting’ on warmth we will be ‘carving’ out dry time after a ‘moist’ start to Thanksgiving

This was the third straight Wednesday before Thanksgiving to be mild and fortunately most of the Nation was storm-free. Rain is inbound for what will be the wettest Thanksgiving in over ten years.

WARM AND WINDY WEDNESDAY

As promised, we got behind a warm front and temperatures surged well into the 50s despite a chilly open. By late day and even after sunset area temperatures were a full 15-degrees warmer than from the same time Tuesday. The 55° high in Indianapolis was the warmest in a week and checking the weather records, marks the third straight year that the busy travel day preceding the Thanksgiving holiday has been mild. In 2020, the temperature reached 56°, while in 2019 the high was 50°.

A cold front is coming and it will deliver colder air after some early morning rain but this looks to be another chilly Thanksgiving. Each of the past six have failed to reach 50-degrees, with it as cold as only 37° back in 2019.

RAIN ARRIVES AS THE BIRD GOES INTO THE OVEN

Rain will be arriving during the overnight and pre-dawn hours Thursday and it will likely be a steady rain to start the day. This will be the first measurable rainfall for a Thanksgiving in five years and with upwards of a quarter-inch of rain expected, the wettest Thanksgiving since 2010. That was the year when 1.45″ of rain fell, marking the WETTEST Thanksgiving on record for Indianapolis.

Showers will scatter and even end as a wind shifting, cold front passes early in the day. The colder air is drier air and temperatures will be sliding after opening near 50° in some locations. While improving, it will get cold as temperatures fall into the middle twenties by early Friday morning!