Sunny and mild, high near 73; dry through Saturday, then a chance of showers Sunday

Today (Wednesday): sunny, with a high near 73 and a west wind around 10 mph. Tonight: mostly clear, with a low around 53 and a northwest wind around 5 mph. No rain is in the forecast, and NWS hour-by-hour rain chances show today dry through work hours (6 a.m. to 6 p.m.). At 5:15 a.m. the La Porte airport reported clear skies and 54 degrees, with a dew point of 50, a south-southwest wind at 7 mph and 10 miles of visibility. It's a comfortable morning, so a light jacket should be plenty.

Thursday: sunny and cooler, with a high near 67 and a northwest wind 5 to 10 mph; Thursday night mostly clear, with a low around 45. Friday: mostly sunny, with a high near 70 (low around 55 Friday night). Saturday: sunny and warm, with a high near 79 (low around 59 Saturday night). Sunday: a chance of rain showers after 7 a.m. (40% in the NWS forecast), partly sunny, with a high near 73; Sunday night a slight chance of showers before 7 p.m. (20%), with a low around 54. Columbus Day Monday: mostly sunny, with a high near 74, then a chance of showers after 7 p.m. Monday night and on Tuesday (32% to 37% in the NWS forecast), with Tuesday's high near 67. NWS has no rain amounts at La Porte through Saturday. NWS says a low around 53 tonight; most of the computer models we also check run closer to 49 or 50, so our forecast for Thursday morning says 50. Friday morning's low is less certain: the models disagree by 6 degrees, and our blend of NWS and the models says 46 (NWS says 45).

What changed since yesterday's Scoop: rain is now in the forecast for Sunday, a 40% chance of showers (from mostly sunny and dry), and Sunday's high is near 73 (from 79). Today's high is near 73 (from 74), Thursday's high is near 67 (from 65), Thursday night's low is around 45 (from 46), Friday's high is near 70 (from 68), Friday night's low is around 55 (from 49), Saturday's high is near 79 (from 77), Saturday night's low is around 59 (from 56), and Sunday night's low is around 54 (from 55). Tonight's low around 53 and Monday night's low around 53 are unchanged. This morning NWS Northern Indiana forecasters say dry, pleasant weather continues through Saturday, with highs mostly in the 70s and lows in the mid 40s to low 50s. A front passing through today brings no rain, just some high clouds at times through tonight. They say some models show light rain Friday night as warmer air returns, and they wouldn't be surprised to add a low chance or a mention of sprinkles then, but are holding off for now. Sunday's rain chance comes from the remnants of what will likely become Hurricane Isaias in the Gulf; the newest guidance shifted its rain shield west, so at least some light rain now clips much of their area. They don't expect significant impacts: even a widespread 1 to 1.5 inches would be manageable after the recent dry weather, that's on the high end of what's possible, and amounts could easily be much lower. Some breezy conditions are possible too, but not strong enough to cause problems. Yesterday we said a high of 70; the La Porte airport got 73.

Right now there are no watches, warnings or advisories for La Porte County, northern or southern, and none for Porter or Lake counties next door. The Weather Prediction Center has no flooding-rain risk for La Porte for the next five days. The Storm Prediction Center has no thunderstorm or severe risk at La Porte today through Friday night; its only severe risk area in that time is a marginal risk Friday into early Saturday along the north-central Gulf Coast, tied to the developing tropical system.