INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Pattern returns to dry with very limited rain chances over the extended forecast.

This morning:

It’s another morning of quiet conditions with a few areas of patchy fog. Like Thursday, fog will be isolated and mainly confined to rural and low-lying River Valley areas.

Friday:

A few midlevel clouds will increase out of the north and west as a stationary boundary starts to camp out over the state. We can’t rule out maybe a stray sprinkle up in northwestern portions of central Indiana for the day today, but most areas should be dry with mainly sunny conditions. High temperatures will top out into the mid- and upper 70s.

Friday night:

Partly cloudy skies as we head through the overnight hours; temperatures won’t be quite as chilly as a result. Lows will fall to the mid-50s overnight.

This weekend:

A quiet weekend on tap with warming temperatures both days. Southerly winds will bring in warmer temperatures for both Saturday and Sunday, as numbers should climb to the lower 80s. Dew point numbers should hold into the low to mid-50s, making for comfortable conditions despite the warm-up.

A cold front sliding through Sunday will bring some breezy conditions across the area. Wind gusts could exceed 30 mph for the first half of our Sunday.

7 day forecast:

Once the cold front exits, we’ll get another surge of cooler Canadian air for next week. Look for high temperatures to hover around average for this time of year. The more noticeable change will be in the overnights, where low temperatures will slip into the low to mid-40s. Some outlying areas in northern Indiana could have a chance of slipping into the upper 30s.

Dry stretch:

The new drought monitor was released on Thursday with some good news after the remnants of Helene dumped a decent amount of rain over our area last weekend. Most of the moderate drought conditions have been eliminated or eased across our state, with the exception of northern Indiana. Most of our state is now considered abnormally dry as of the latest update. The rain was very much welcome and needed because the forecast is pretty limited on rain chances over the next 7 days and even well into the middle of the month with below average precipitation expected over the long term.