Highlights:
- Periods of storms Tuesday
- Snowy Wednesday for some
- Warming back up this weekend with storms
Dramamine Required…The “tug of war” weather pattern will continue through the forecast period with winter and spring each having difficulty taking control for any length of time…
Walking out the door this morning will have you checking the calendar to see if it, indeed, is early February. As we type this Tuesday morning, temperatures are in the lower 60s across many central IN neighborhoods. That unseasonably warm air mass will help fuel t-storm development through the mid afternoon hours and a couple of these storms could reach severe levels, including damaging winds.
The cold front will sweep through the state this afternoon putting an end to the storminess and resulting in colder air spilling into the region tonight. A disturbance will quickly move into the colder air mass Wednesday and this will result in an area of snow developing during the day. This is a tricky system as the recent warm, wet ground would argue against much, if any, accumulation. However, localized banding features likely will lead to more intense snowfall rates across portions of north-central IN Wednesday afternoon-evening and this would overcome the warm surface temperatures and lead to local slushy accumulations. We feel at this time, the best bet for a potential 1″-2″ slushy snowfall will be just north of the city and we’ll have a snowfall forecast map out this evening (want to give the 12z modeling a good look).
We’ll turn much colder Thursday before wrapping up the work week with a windy, milder feel Friday.
The next storm will arrive over the weekend and serve to give the thermometer another spring-like look, but, similar to today, storms will follow Sunday…
Upcoming 7-Day Precipitation Forecast:
- Snowfall: 1″ – 2″
- Rainfall: 0.75″ – 1.25″
2.) What at one time looked to be a significant weekend storm now may not even deliver any precipitation at all to the region. A flurry is possible, but most should remain precipitation-free this weekend. Expect a gusty southwest wind developing SB Sunday. Highs around freezing Saturday will zoom into the middle 40s Sunday. Lows Saturday morning in the middle 10s will rise into the upper 20s to around 30 Sunday morning.
3.) A more significant storm system will cut for the Great Lakes early next week and this will deliver gusty showers and embedded thunderstorms. A couple of stronger storms aren’t out of the question. Locally heavy rains can be expected, including amounts of 1″-1.5″ (locally heavier totals).
4.) Cold air will rush back into the region behind the storm and snow showers and squalls are likely by Wednesday.
5.) Longer-term, a real fight is developing on the overall direction we’re heading as February evolves. Analog methods and teleconnections (shown below) would yield bullish cold signals and give hope to winter enthusiasts. However, modeling isn’t in agreement on the wintry ideas. In fact, some modeling is very spring-like as mid-Feb nears. Stay tuned as we try and iron out the details this weekend. Updates will come.
