There are a few showers across parts of Johnson and Shelby counties and some steady rain near Columbus.  Scattered showers will continue overnight and are possible on Wednesday too.

The upper level storm system will finally exit late Thursday.  As that happens, a warmer weather pattern takes over.  For the first day of July, it will be cool and only in the lower 70s.  Forecast highs begin to rebound, as the storm system exits.

Highs in the 80s return for Friday and the holiday weekend.

Lawmakers are on the way home.  The budget is passed.

The governor gets the Statehouse to himself tomorrow.  That may be why his budget remarks will be made in the morning.

The average high for the end of June is in the middle 80s.  Temperatures this afternoon were about 10 cooler than that.  Cooler air will continue to push south through mid-week.  An upper level storm system will continue to spin clouds and shower chances our way too.

The first day of July will include a mix of sun and clouds and high temperatures near 70 degrees.  Under some of the thicker clouds, a shower will be possible.

The upper level low begins to move east on Thursday.  It will still be cooler than average, but the 80s are back for Friday and the holiday weekend.

The City-County Council begins its meetings with a variety of tributes.  Sometimes, councillors acknowledge special constituents in the chamber.  Maybe a quick introduction and the voter waves from the crowd.  At other times, the tributes are more formal.  Either way, they can be easy to overlook on the way to the “big news” of the night.  But, it seems I always hear of someone whose accomplishments merit a “Special Resolution”, at the very least.

One such resolution, last night, was Proposal 257.  It honored Jim Butz, the band director at Ben Davis High School.  He’s preparing to retire after 25 years at the school.  Ben Davis is most often celebrated for its success on the football field.  I suspect Mr. Butz spent a lot of time on the field, too — directing the half time shows.  The resolution praised him for, among other things, leading the Ben Davis band to six state championships.

Butz refused to take credit for all of the musical success.  He said he’s worked with “an awful lot of good kids.”  And, upon hearing his list of achievements recited in the council chamber, Butz said “I guess I do need to retire.”

Senate GOP budget negotiator Luke Kenley just left the House Speaker’s office headed back to the Senate. 

Meantime, House Minority Leader Brian Bosma just informed fellow members of the need to return to a private caucus.

Indiana House returns at 1pm.

About 25 minutes ago Bill Crawford said he still had not signed the conference committee report.

The state Senate just posted a revised start time of 1:30pm.

All eyes are now on the Indiana House where representatives of the Indiana State Teachers Association were just spotted in the reception area of House Speaker Pat Bauer’s office.  They don’t like the school formula in the budget proposal.

Rep. Bill Crawford just walked into House Speaker Pat Bauer’s office carrying copies of the budget bill.

I asked if he had signed it yet (in his role as Democratic conferee, a move required for a floor vote to take place.)   Said Crawford, “I’m just getting ready to.”

That should set the stage for an afternoon vote in the House.

TODAY: The upper-level low pressure system will continue to inch closer to the state today.  You probably noticed some of the impacts late in the day Monday.  Clouds moved in, and temperatures started to drop.  You experience more of the same today.  We will see some sunshine early, then clouds will thicken throughout the day.  A few spotty showers could pop-up later this afternoon and into early evening.  Highs will only hit the mid 70’s.

TONIGHT: Clouds will linger, we may see a stray shower overnight.  Temperatures will stay cool. Lows will drop into the mid 50’s.

WEDNESDAY: Not much chnage to the weather pattern.  Temperatures will be even cooler, and there will be slightly higher chances of scattered showers.  Highs will struggle to hit 70° which would be about 15 degrees below normal for this time of year!

THURSDAY: The upper-level low will start to weaken and lift to the northeast a bit, so it will loosen its grip on the area just a bit.  So temperatures will warm back into the upper 70’s.

Forecast highs over the next couple of days will be 10 degrees cooler than average.  The average high for the end of June and early July is near 85 degrees.  Highs will only be in the 70s on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Cooler air will push south with an upper level area of low pressure.  With this low, there will be some clouds and a stray shower is possible too.

Most of the area will stay dry, as the rain chances will be slim Tuesday and Wednesday.

Warmer air returns for the end of the week and the holiday weekend.