INDIANAPOLIS – A strong storm system is moving into the Midwest Wednesday evening and will produce dangerously strong wind gusts on Thursday.

Heavy rain overnight

Rain will begin in the early evening with showers entering the state from the southwest between 5-7pm. Rainfall will be steady at times with scattered downpours moving in overnight. An isolated thunderstorm is a possibility as well. Rainfall will begin to diminish and downpours will become more scattered in the early morning. The last of the rain will be out shortly after sunrise.

High wind throughout Thursday

The last of the rain will move out as a cold front moves in and this will spark a significant increase in wind speed. We’ll see sustained wind reach the 25-35mph range around sunrise with gusts climbing through the 40s. Peak gusts will come in the afternoon and will fall in the 50-60mph range. This is equivalent to the speed in many severe thunderstorms (severe threshold is 58mph). Scattered power outages are expected as a result. Travel may be difficult for large vehicles.

A look at temperatures

Thursday morning, also around sunrise, we’ll experience our warmest weather in over a month. Highs will briefly reach the low 60s before the cold front moves through. Temperatures will fall quickly through the day and into the low 30s overnight.

We’ll have to deal with a couple of cold days in Friday and Saturday, but each day will remain dry as well. Temps will increase again quickly as we head into Sunday and next week.