All of Indiana and Ohio have a slight risk of severe weather between 8 a.m. EDT Saturday, July 26 and 8 a.m. EDT Sunday, according to the “Day 3 Convective Outlook” that the National Weather Service (NWS) Storm Prediction Center (SPC) issued at 3:29 a.m. EDT today. The slight risk area also includes part of southern Lower Michigan, which means all 37 counties covered by the northern Indiana NWS office are included.

The entire slight risk area has a 15 percent probability of severe weather within 25 miles of a point. Severe weather is defined as one or more of the following: tornado, damaging straight-line thunderstorm winds of 58 mph or more, or hail of inch in diameter or larger.

Forecasters expect scattered clusters of storms to form by Saturday evening along a front that should be draped from the lower Great Lakes region across parts of the central plains. They expect large hail to be the greatest threat during the late afternoon and evening Saturday.  There will also be a potential for one or more swaths of damaging straight-line winds into Saturday night.  Forecasters warn that as Saturday approaches, future outlooks might include higher probabilities of severe weather.

Anyone in the slight risk area who plans outdoor activities Saturday afternoon and/or evening should also plan to have a way to be notified of any weather watches or warnings that might be issued. SKYWARN storm spotters should prepare their vehicles and equipment for possible activation Saturday.

The SPC will issue its next outlook for Saturday with its first “Day 2 Convective Outlook” tomorrow. It’s due out by 2 a.m.