Local weather goes from 30 Sunday morning to 73 Monday afternoon with 80s on the way

It’s truly a sign of the times Monday at Servicemaster along Indianapolis Road in Greencastle as a high temperature of 73 under sunny skies helps erase knowledge of a 30-degree, record-breaking low on Sunday morning.

Banner Graphic/Eric Bernsee

After enduring one more shot of cold air on Sunday morning, spring may actually have sprung in central Indiana.

Or as the ever-clever signage in front of Servicemaster in Greencastle was noting, “We’ve earned this weather,” which included a sunny ride to 73 degrees on Monday, according to the weather station at Greencastle Middle School.

At 6:22 a.m. Sunday, Indianapolis officially fell to 30 degrees, establishing a new record low for the date, before rebounding into the 60s later in the day.

The previous record was 31 degrees set in 1976 and tied in 1977, according to the National Weather Service. It also marks the coldest temperature experienced in central Indiana so late in the spring since the low was 29 degrees on May 3, 2005.

From April 29 through the rest of the spring, there only have ever been seven days in recorded history with lows of 30 degrees or lower. Sunday morning became the eighth day.

The average last freeze date in central Indiana is April 17, although the latest freeze ever recorded in the area was on May 27, 1961.

By Tuesday afternoon, the area could be seeing the warmest temperatures of the year. Highs in the low 80s were predicted for the first day of May as well as Wednesday and Thursday. The forecast also calls for rain and thunderstorms Thursday and Friday (keep your fingers crossed for First Friday in Greencastle).