Step outside this evening at sunset, just as the sky is fading to black, and look west. Venus and Saturn are having a beautiful close encounter.

On Saturday, June 30th, they will be only 2/3 degrees apart, which means you can hide them both behind the tip of your index finger held at arm’s length.

If you have a backyard telescope, set it up. Even small ’scopes reveal the rings of Saturn and the surprising crescent shape of Venus!

This picture was taken Bob Jones in Anderson Tuesday evening after the storms rolled through.

We’ll see more thunderstorms Wednesday night into Thursday as a cold front moves through. The front should be near Lafayette around 8am and through Bloomington by 8pm. Expect heavy rain across the entire viewing area.

Drier and less humid air moves in on Friday. This weekend looks picture perfect with lots of sunshine!

The soggy stage is set for more thunderstorm chances through Wednesday afternoon and evening.  Heavy rain is the biggest threat from the storms, but of course some would say threat is the wrong word, as a dry spell continues in parts of the state.  Storms soaked much of Indiana Tuesday, but bypassed places like the National Weather Service in Indy, which officially received less than a tenth of an inch. 

Storm chances are high Thursday as a cold front Wanders Indiana.  Humidity will still be a factor, but it won’t be as hot.  A streak of nice days begins Friday.

We had some gullywashers today across parts of the viewing area. The heaviest rain fell from Kokomo down to Martinsville. McCordsville had about 1″, while Martinsville had over 1.50″. We also had a few Severe Thunderstorm Warnings that produced penny size hail and damaging winds.

More rain is in the forecast, so if you haven’t had any over the past few days, then there is still hope! We’ll see scattered showers and thunderstorms on Wednesday, especially during the afternoon hours. A cold front will move through Wednesday night into Thursday bringing us more rain. Thursday looks to be a wash out with lots of clouds and a steady rain.

Cooler, drier, and less humid air moves in for Friday and into the weekend!:)

After two weeks of Summer Vacation, my blogging skills are rusty.  (Translation:  I didn’t even remember yesterday.) 

Storms are popping again today, but the best chance will remain in the western third of the state, in area that are closer to an area of upper level low pressure.  A cold front brings a more general chance of Thursday rain, and opens the door to less heat and humidy Friday through the weekend. 

Now, if you’ll excuse me–back to cleaning out the e-mail Inbox.  Things do pile up.

UPDATE:  Steady rains did indeed move into central Indiana this afternoon, with some pretty good downpours reported.  Let’s hope more precip is in the pipeline tomorrow and Thursday, and then we can soak up the sun while we’re cutting the newly growing grass this weekend.