Category: Rain

Feb 02

Cold Start To The Work Week; Watching Wednesday…

Screen Shot 2015-02-02 at 7.46.45 AMBundle Up…Snow showers and gusty winds are combining with refreezing of snow and moisture on roadways to create slick travel this Monday morning.  Leave extra time on your way to work and school this morning and travel safely.  Additionally, gusty northwest winds are pushing wind chill values into the subzero ranks.  As we progress through the day we should see increasing sunshine, but it’ll remain frigid.

Our next storm system of interest arrives by the middle of the week.  Forecast models differ on the timing and amount of moisture with this next storm, but there’s the chance of accumulating snow arriving Wednesday.  This would be in advance of a quick-hitting pop of arctic air.  We’ll keep a close eye on things.

The active pattern remains into the upcoming weekend as increasing clouds give way to showers Saturday and a transition to more a of wintry mix Sunday.

Upcoming 7-Day Precipitation Forecast:

  • 7-Day Snowfall Forecast: 1″ – 2″
  • 7-Day Rainfall Forecast: 0.10″ – 0.20″

Permanent link to this article: https://indywx.com/cold-start-to-the-work-week-watching-wednesday/

Feb 01

Period Of Snow Moving In…

As mentioned below, bust potential was/ is high with today’s forecast.  The further north trends in the NAM and GFS will ultimately trump the normally reliable Canadian and European solutions.  As such, slushy snowfall accumulations will be light (1″-2″) for the city, itself, increasing to between 2″-5″ for northern Indianapolis suburbs (Zionsville, Carmel, Westfield, Noblesville, etc.).  Double digit totals will fall across the northern third of the state.

For the most part, snowfall accumulations will come from this area of precipitation moving through the region.

Screen Shot 2015-02-01 at 9.30.06 AM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heavy wet snow will likely fall for a period of time, especially from northern portions of Indianapolis and points north late morning into the early afternoon.

hires_ref_indy_6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Temperatures will then likely creep up a few degrees through the mid afternoon hours before falling this evening.  Snow will mix with, or change to, snow across central regions this afternoon with the northward track of the low.  Note the stark temperature contrast across the region this evening.

hrrr_t2m_indy_16

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The week will get off to a cold start as highs Monday only top out in the lower 20s.  Enjoy your Super Bowl Sunday and keep the reports coming!

Permanent link to this article: https://indywx.com/period-of-snow-moving-in/

Jan 31

Crippling Snow Storm For Some; Just Wet For Others.

An incredibly difficult and challenging forecast is in store for central Indiana over the course of the next 24-36 hours.  I want to get out front with this right from the get go: bust potential is high with this type set-up, as a jog 10-20 miles north or south of the surface low will mean the difference between half a foot of snow and plain cold rain.  As it stands now, and after careful consideration of every piece of data available, here’s our updated snowfall map:

SnowfallMap2115V2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I still am not sure any one piece of data is handling the interaction between the arctic high to the north and the developing low to our southwest “perfectly.”  As such, additional fine tuning will have to take place tonight.  That arctic high is powerful at nearly 1045mb.  From a meteorological standpoint, it’ll be a fascinating battle watching the fight play out.

As you can see, we’re going to be looking at a very tight thermal gradient and it, unfortunately, appears to set itself up directly over the I-70 corridor.  Precipitation type and amounts are the biggest challenge within the I-70 corridor.  Further north, confidence increases rather significantly for a crippling snow storm.  For central Indiana, this will be a very wet and heavy snow event before ending as a drier, powdery snow on the back end.  As winds increase Sunday afternoon/ evening, the heavy “paste” like snow won’t blow around as easily as it would if it was drier.  Further north the snow consistency will be drier and blowing and drifting will be severe (in the 8″-12″+ zone).

In the shorter-term, rain and a wintry mix will arrive into the region as early as early as 6-7 o’clock.

Stay tuned.  Another post will hit here late tonight (midnight-ish).  In the meantime, we’ll keep our thoughts coming at @indywx through the afternoon.

Permanent link to this article: https://indywx.com/crippling-snow-storm-for-some-just-wet-for-others/

Jan 31

Saturday Morning Rambles

Overnight model data remains very much out of agreement with one another concerning Sunday. The struggle continues trying to figure out the precise track of the low and the influence…

You must be logged in to view this content. Click Here to become a member of IndyWX.com for full access.  Already a member of IndyWx.com All-Access?  Log-in here.

Permanent link to this article: https://indywx.com/saturday-morning-rambles-4/

Jan 30

Weekend Snow Storm…

Screen Shot 2015-01-30 at 7.10.35 AMWeekend Snow Storm On Deck…Scattered snow flurries and snow showers will come to an end this morning with increasing sunshine following.  Despite seeing a little vitamin D this afternoon, it won’t do anything to help us in the temperature department.  In fact, we already experienced our high around midnight.  Temperatures this afternoon will remain in the middle to upper 20s with a gusty wind.

Most of Saturday will be quiet (calm before the storm) with dry conditions and afternoon highs around 40.  Clouds will lower and thicken as we go through the afternoon and evening and snow will develop (rain or a wintry mix down state initially) across central Indiana during the overnight.  Snow will increase in intensity Sunday morning and grow heavy at times during the day as low pressure tracks along the Ohio River (a classic track for central Indiana snow storms).  See our initial accumulation map below, which is still subject to change.  We’ll introduce a gusty east and northeast wind into the mix Sunday evening and night and this will lead to blowing and drifting snow Sunday night.  Stay tuned.

The big story next week will be the cold, but we’re also watching two potential snow makers, as well.  More on that after we deal with Sunday’s snow storm.

Upcoming 7-Day Precipitation Forecast:

  • 7-Day Snowfall Forecast: 5″ – 10″
  • 7-Day Rainfall Forecast: Trace

2115SnowfallMap

Permanent link to this article: https://indywx.com/weekend-snow-storm/