Columbia City, IN Weather

Key Messages

- Warm and dry conditions persist for much of this week with highs in the 70s and lows around 50.

- There is a chance for light rain near Lake Michigan on Thursday with a better chance for more widespread rain early next week.

Discussion

Issued at 130 AM EDT Mon Oct 26 2026

A weak convergent boundary is noted on radar mosaic and surface obs just to our northwest this morning. This front is associated with an upper low crossing Hudson Bay and is becoming increasingly diffuse as the parent forcing zips east and strong mid/upper ridge holds over the Ohio Valley. No rain is expected locally, just a steady stream of high clouds given incredibly dry and stable low levels. Our area does see a wind shift later today into tonight to NNE and eventually east. Will have to keep an eye on fog potential given return of Lake Erie contribution but ample high clouds may limit development as is occurring now. Highs today still reach low 70s ahead of the front and flow veers back to a more southerly direction by Tue afternoon so highs on Tue are still around 70 (slightly cooler far NE).

S/SW flow and warm/moist air advection ramp up again Tue night through Thu as another front take aims at the region. A more southward track of the parent trough and a much better prefrontal LLJ/theta-e surge suggest at least some chances for rain on Thu. The trough is still well to the north though and local areas remain relatively dry and stable. Best chances for some light rain will be in our far NW Thu afternoon. Latest NBM even throws in a chance for thunder in our NW but not expecting anything significant and areas along/south of US-24 likely remain dry. Highs do climb near 80 on Thu, which is the record (set in 2024).

Upper ridge finally breaks down this weekend with potential for a southern stream trough to tap into better moisture and bring our best chances for rain in a while. Still a ton of spread regarding the timing and evolution though. Halloween still looks mostly dry but NBM is maintaining some slight chance PoPs. Better chances arrive Sunday into Monday but confidence on timing and amounts couldn't be much lower.

Aviation

Issued at 130 AM EDT Mon Oct 26 2026

A large scale upper trough working across south central Canada is allowing a weak cold front to sag south across the Great Lakes region. This front is expected to be shallow in nature as far south as northern Indiana, with more aggressive southern push limited by the fact the forcing with the upper wave will already be waning later this morning. This front is expected to lose its integrity today but should provide a weak northerly sfc wind component at KSBN this afternoon. A narrow zone of post- frontal MVFR low clouds may accompany this front, but the greater potential of this appears to be across west central Lower MI into northeast Illinois. VFR conditions should hold through this period, with fog potential looking significantly lower than previous few nights.

Iwx Watches

IN...None. OH...None. MI...None. MARINE...None.