Winter Storm Video Brief
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Winter Storm Tonight-Saturday
Good morning and happy Friday, friends! Boy, Old Man Winter is really beginning to turn some minds around from thinking this was an easy winter to one that’s quite impressive, especially from a cold standpoint. By the way, there’s MUCH more from where this came from! Essentially we remain on “lock down” for more brutally cold and wintry conditions for the upcoming 7-10 day period. More on that later.
Here’s a look at our initial snowfall forecast map for tonight and Saturday:
Forecast radar shows heavy wet snow encompassing central Indiana Saturday morning:
Bullet point highlights you need to know:
- Snow will overspread central Indiana from the southwest between 10p-1a
- Snow will become heavy at times between 3a-7a
- Sleet and freezing rain will accumulate significantly downstate
- Most of the snow will be east of the area by 3p Saturday
- You’ll want to plow and clean snow up Saturday night as cold air quickly returns Sunday
- Arctic outbreak next week likely will feature record cold, and colder than this week has been
- No let-up in sight from this unrelenting winter pattern
Arctic Express Rolling Down The Tracks…
Heavy Cold Weather Gear Needed…It’s a frigid morning across central Indiana with all reporting sites well below zero. Despite the sunshine today, we’ll only “warm” into the middle single digits- smashing the former record cold maximum of 12 degrees. Amazing stuff! Wind chills will remain below zero and downright dangerous.
Eyes shift to a wintry weather maker this weekend and overnight computer guidance has begun to catch onto a much more realistic suppressed, colder solution, as opposed to the warmer and more aggressive storm into the Ohio Valley. We still have time to watch for additional changes, but for now we think light snow overspreads central Indiana Friday evening, before a bit heavier precipitation moves in late Friday night and Saturday morning. The “2nd round” of precipitation will likely consist of most of the ice/snow accumulation, including mostly snow across north-central Indiana, a messy mix of sleet and freezing rain across the heart of central Indiana, and a cold rain downstate. Caution though that this is still preliminary thinking and certainly subject to change. An early guesstimate on central Indiana snowfall potential with this system would be for a light to borderline moderate event- 2″ to 4″ type deal.
The Arctic Express quickly gains momentum yet again Sunday night and will lead to another frigid week next week. This pattern is getting to be unbelievable from both the sustained cold, but the extreme nature of the cold, as well. Put this into perspective, only three days of the above forecast period feature high temperatures close to, or slightly warmer, than our average low.
Upcoming 7-Day Precipitation Forecast:
- 7-Day Snowfall Forecast: 2″ – 4″
- 7-Day Rainfall Forecast: 0.10″
Record Cold Air Ready To Blow In…
Heavy Duty Cold Weather Gear Needed…If you didn’t think it was cold enough, Mother Nature will try and do better by the middle of the week as downright bitter, and dangerously, cold air blows into town. Scattered snow showers will accompany the arctic blast as a couple of upper level disturbances rotate across the state between today and Wednesday. Wind chills of 20 to 25 below zero can be expected Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Additionally, we’ll run the chance of breaking our coldest high temperature on record for Feb. 19th- Thursday (currently 12 degrees).
After a bitter, but dry couple of days to close the work week, we eye the upcoming weekend for our next storm system. For now we’ll forecast increasing cloudiness late Friday and a wintry mix overspreading the region Saturday. We’ll become more detailed in regards to precipitation type, amounts, and timing over the next day, or two. Fresh arctic air will flow in here to close the weekend.
Upcoming 7-Day Precipitation Forecast:
- 7-Day Snowfall Forecast: 1″ – 2″
- 7-Day Rainfall Forecast: Trace
Incredible Pattern…
Hope You Like Winter…Many central Indiana neighborhoods are awaking to temperatures this morning between zero and 4 degrees above. It’s a frigid start to the day and sunshine won’t do anything to help us out as highs only manage to climb into the middle teens.
Clouds will increase this evening and tonight and snow will overspread the southern half of the state late tonight and Monday morning. This is from the storm system we said that it was too early to write off last week and that a northern shift was certainly possible as we got closer. Sure enough, the northward jog took place yesterday and puts places from Indianapolis and points south in play for accumulating snow Monday. We’ll continue to look over the data today and tonight and have more specific numbers later tonight.
Yet ANOTHER surge of arctic air will slam in here by the middle of the week and snow showers/ gusty winds will precede the bitter blast. In fact, this 3rd arctic surge looks to be the coldest yet. Amazing stuff!
As we rumble towards next weekend, there’s yet another winter storm we’ll have to keep a watch on…
Upcoming 7-Day Precipitation Forecast:
- 7-Day Rainfall Forecast: 0.00″
- 7-Day Snowfall Forecast: 2″ – 5″