Foggy start, then near 84 for Columbus Day; showers and storms Tuesday night

Automatic update, 7:02 a.m.: It's running cooler than NWS's earlier hour-by-hour forecast: at 6:35 a.m. the La Porte airport reported fog and 54 degrees, where that forecast had about 59. There are no watches, warnings, or advisories for La Porte County right now.

Foggy start, then summer-like warmth for Columbus Day. Patchy fog until about 8 a.m., then mostly sunny and dry all day, high near 84, gusts to 25 mph. Tonight: mostly clear and mild, low around 69. The La Porte airport at 5:15 a.m.: fog, 54, visibility a quarter mile. Allow extra time and use low beams on the morning drive.

Tuesday: sunny, near 84. Showers and storms are likely (70%) after 7 p.m. Tuesday and through Wednesday, about half an inch to an inch added up from NWS's amounts; Wednesday near 71. Rain showers Thursday (80%), near 68, then a 30% chance Friday, near 57. A chilly, dry weekend: Saturday near 55, a low around 35 Saturday night, Sunday sunny near 61. NWS says lows of 69 tonight and 62 Wednesday morning; the computer models we also check run cooler, so our forecast says 66 and 57. The models disagree on Tuesday through Thursday, so those days are less certain.

What changed since Saturday's Scoop: Tuesday is much warmer and dry by day, near 84 (from 73); the rain now arrives Tuesday night instead (from Monday night into Tuesday morning), and Wednesday's chance is up to 70% (from 30% to 50%). NWS Northern Indiana forecasters say highs could near records today and Tuesday, and it's unclear how fast the front sinks south midweek. Yesterday we said a high of 73; the La Porte airport got 75.

Right now there are no watches, warnings or advisories for La Porte County, northern or southern, or for Porter and Lake counties next door. SPC shows no severe-storm risk here through Wednesday, only general thunderstorms possible Tuesday. WPC puts La Porte in a marginal (at least 5%) risk of flooding rain from 7 a.m. Thursday to 7 a.m. Friday.