Cooler than normal weather in northern Indiana is expected to continue through the end of the month and could extend into Labor Day weekend, according to the National Weather Service.
As of Monday, it’s been 75 days since South Bend saw temperatures hit 90 or above, and the likelihood of any more sizzling temperatures this summer appears to be fading as summer moves closer to an end.
A persistent upper air pattern – sometimes called a trough – has been situated over much of the eastern half of the United States, ushering in cooler temperatures from the northwest, according to the weather service.
South Bend has seen temperatures this summer hit 90s or above just three times, and all were in mid-June. The highest high temp so far this summer was on June 12, when it reached 92.
High temps in South Bend in July and August were 88, the weather service reports.
Fort Wayne has seen similar trends, the weather service said.
Fort Wayne has seen similar trends, the weather service said.
The average number of high temps in the 90s per year for South Bend is 16.6, according to John Taylor, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in North Webster.
The cool trend has been even more significant this month. So far, the average high has been 3.4 degrees lower than the normal, Taylor said.
“That’s pretty significant,” Taylor said.
Where does the cooler-than-normal trend than rank historically? Taylor says it’s in the top third spanning records over the past 124 years. Twice in the 1930s, South Bend avoided any high temps in the 90s. The most number of recorded highs in the 90s happened in 1934 with 53.
More recently, during the 1988 heat wave, South Bend saw 44 days with highs in the 90s or above. The cool trend is expected to continue for at least the next week.
The forecast for northern Indiana calls for highs in the mid- to upper-70s until Sunday, when the high could reach 80. The weather service predicts a chance of rain in Warsaw tonight and a lingering chance of rain Tuesday. Tuesday’s high will be 74.
Mostly sunny conditions are expected to return Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, according to the weather service.
Another weather system that will keep temperatures lower than normal is expected to arrive around Labor Day weekend, Taylor said.
Precipitation across northern Indiana has been more inconsistent. South Bend has seen more rain than normal while Fort Wayne has been the opposite, Taylor said.
