Accumulating Ice And Snow Then Frigid

Forecast Updated: 03.02.14 @ 12:25a

Sunday Winter Storm…The well advertised winter storm is here and will make a mess of travel and plans for the second half of your weekend.  Moisture is streaming northeast over a bitterly cold air mass locked in place at the surface and this will create a mixture of sleet and freezing rain to quickly change to a mixture of sleet and snow during the early morning hours across central Indiana.

We forecast precipitation intensity to really begin to increase across the greater central Indiana region around 3-4 am.  Waves of accumulating snow will continue through the day, though it won’t snow all day.  In particular, we bracket 4am to 10am and then again early Sunday afternoon.

Finally, a wave of low pressure will eject into the Tennessee Valley Sunday night into Monday, continuing the significant snow and icing down state.  We anticipate the majority, if not all, of “round two” to bypass most of central Indiana to the south Sunday evening into early Monday.  So, what’s the culprit behind the suppression?  As mentioned in previous posts, a powerful arctic high will build south Sunday into Sunday night and this is the primary driver for the shift south in the surface low track.

All of that said, we’re still looking at significant accumulations of sleet and snow across central Indiana today, though reduced from the 6-8″ forecast we’ve had out since Thursday morning.  We now forecast 2-5″ of snow and sleet across central Indiana.  Needless to say, we’ll continue to monitor.  Sunday night will turn downright frigid across the region as temperatures crash into the upper single digits.

As a quick side note, we once again have to tip our cap to the Canadian forecast model.  It began to catch onto the southward shift with “phase 2” of the storm well in advance of the other model data (during the mid week period), including the highly touted European forecast model.

Frigid Start To The Work Week With Slow Mid Week Moderation…Fresh arctic air will be locked in place across the area to begin the new work week.  While it’ll be dry, temperatures will run as much as 30 degrees below seasonal norms.  The cold winter of 2013-2014 just doesn’t want to let up.

As we push into the mid week stretch we’ll note a powerful Gulf low that’s expected to push up the eastern seaboard. Early indications here keep us dry with slowly moderating temperatures.  Though we’ll remain well below normal, it’ll be a step in the right direction, so to speak, from the frigid early week start.

Weak Late Week System…The early take on late next week shows a cold front moving through Friday afternoon and evening. This may create a few rain showers Friday evening followed by light snow Friday night into Saturday morning as a fresh push of cold air blows into the state.  We have time to watch this and update as needed.

Upcoming 7-Day Precipitation Forecast

• 7-Day Snowfall Forecast: 2-5″
• 7-Day Rainfall Forecast: 0.25″

We’ll have fresh thoughts posted here and on our social media accounts through the day.  Have a nice Sunday and God Bless!  You can follow us on Twitter @indywx and become a friend of ours on Facebook by searching IndyWx.com.