Moisture will overspread the southern half of the state as we progress through the evening. Expect an increasingly damp time of things, especially from the I-70 corridor and points south through the overnight period. Eventually, as cold air oozes south, precipitation will become mixed with a wintry “cocktail” of sleet, freezing rain, and wet snow along the I-70 corridor during the overnight into the predawn hours Tuesday.
While major travel problems aren’t expected, a slushy accumulation is possible along the I-70 stretch early Tuesday morning.
We’ll be in between systems and undergo a bit of a lull in the action during the majority of the daytime hours Tuesday. However, as upper level energy spins closer to the region, we’ll notice an expanding area of snow that will initially develop across south-central parts of the state Tuesday afternoon before encompassing eastern portions of the region Tuesday evening. During this time period, snowfall intensity will also begin to ramp up and we fully expect periods of wet heavy snow to fall through the nighttime into Wednesday morning across eastern Indiana.
Our initial first-stab at accumulations includes a band of 3″ to 6″ amounts across far eastern parts of the state, and it’s within this zone that we’ll likely see a few 6″+ reports before things begin to wind down late Wednesday morning into the early afternoon. Somewhere between New Castle and Richmond very well may end up being the winner with this event.
Given the unseasonably cold March ongoing, along with expected snowfall intensity, accumulation on roadways and travel problems are expected to develop Tuesday night into Wednesday morning across eastern Indiana. We recommend having travel completed before sunset Tuesday evening if your travels take you to, or through, far eastern Indiana.
As we’ve stated, March snow events always have “surprises.” While we try our best to eliminate as many of these surprises as possible, it’s simply the nature of the beast this time of year. Early spring snow events are notorious for producing localized intense bands of snow (more so than even high resolution models can show) given the right dynamics and time of day. Just something to keep in mind as we progress through the upcoming 24 to 48 hours.