Marcus’ 4 a.m. Tuesday forecast INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Several rain chances settle in over an active weather week in central Indiana. Today: Starting the day off relatively quietly with lighter winds, slightly warmer temperatures compared to Monday morning, and partly to mostly cloudy s kies. Some showers are lingering in the southern portions of the state. Today, we will be left with partly to mostly cloudy skies and seasonably cool temperatures. We also anticipate a few waves of energy sliding in from the north and west this afternoon, which could trigger a few isolated showers in the area. Most places will remain dry, but we can’t rule out a few isolated raindrops in your neighborhood for the second half of the day. High temperatures will reach the upper 40s and lower 50s this afternoon. Tonight: Weak high pressure will settle in for the evening and overnight hours, which should break up some of the clouds as we progress through the night. Temperatures will be seasonably cool for this time of year, with lows dipping down to the low to mid-30s. Wednesday: The high pressure continues for our Wednesday, which should leave us mostly dry. Look for mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies with a slight chance of a stray shower or two. Highs should be a little closer to normal, topping out in the mid-50s. Warming Thursday: Thursday will be a day of transition to warmer temperatures and a much more active weather pattern. We’ll begin with partly cloudy skies in the morning and mostly cloudy skies in the afternoon, with widely scattered showers and maybe even a rumble of thunder for the second half of the day. High temperatures should top out right around 60°. Rain & storms return: Friday will begin dry with partly to mostly cloudy skies. A much stronger pull from the south and west will really help to boost our temperatures back to around 70° to wrap up this work week. Showers and thunderstorms will make a return as we head into the afternoon and evening hours. There is potential for some heavy downpours at times on Friday. We will see the continuation of rain chances heading into Saturday. Showers and even a few thunderstorms will be possible to kick off the weekend with very warm temperatures. Highs will top out around 70°. A more robust system will exit the plains for Sunday, moving into the Midwest. This will bring widespread rain and storms to the area. It appears that there will be enough ingredients for a threat of severe weather, although the probability of severe weather is still uncertain this far out. It’s just something to keep in mind if you have outdoor plans as we head into the weekend. Otherwise, look for the potential of heavy rain as we head into the weekend. Seven-day rainfall estimates suggest anywhere between one to two inches of rain across much of central and southern Indiana. High temperatures will hang out in the low 70s to wrap up the weekend. Extended forecast: Some leftover showers will be possible for Monday but should move out relatively quickly. We do snap back to slightly below normal temperatures for early next week, with highs only topping out in the low and mid-50s. The long-range pattern over the next 8 to 14 days still calls for warmer-than-average temperatures as we go into the first week of April. ...read more read less