Category: Unseasonably Cool Weather

Nov 13

No Secret Behind The Early Bitter Shots Of Air

As I write this, many Hoosiers are awaking to temperatures at downright bitter levels, despite the fact it’s only mid November.  The official low here at IndyWx.com HQ was a frosty 18 degrees and a far cry from the normal low of 37.

The early season bitter air mass has even settled in across portions of the Deep South and Coastal Plain.  Amazingly, snow was reported along the Carolina coastline last night (almost unheard of for mid November). Note the deep freeze penetrating far into the Deep South.  My home town of Auburn, AL dipped to a frigid 27 degrees this morning.  Again, very rare for so early in the season.

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It’s my job to look at what is behind these expansive early season bitter attacks of air (by the way, another bitterly cold air mass is ahead next week).  In my opinion, a lot of the early shots of impressive arctic air has to do with the widespread early snow and ice pack developing across the Northern Hemisphere.  We wrote about this first back on October 17th and the snow and ice pack has only been growing since.  The latest image shows a very impressive and vast snow and ice pack for so early in the season.  As early season cold moves south into the Lower 48, it doesn’t have much time to modify as it passes over the growing early season snow pack.

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As we look ahead, despite the weekend warm-up, another impressive shot of arctic air will plow into the Hoosier state early next week (perhaps even colder than this current air mass).  The European forecast model, once again, shows temperatures 12-18 degrees below normal by early next week.

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Temperatures currently are running well below normal in similar areas modeling is sticking the “heart” of the cold next week.

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As we continue rumbling into the colder, snowier months ahead, one has to at least wonder what the overall impact of the early season expansive snow and ice cover during October and November will leave on the winter of 2013-2014…

Permanent link to this article: https://indywx.com/no-secret-behind-the-early-bitter-shots-of-air/

Nov 12

Wednesday Forecast: A Bitterly Cold Start

Updated 11.12.13 @ 8:50p

Zionsville, IN After waking up to half an inch of snow, sunshine engulfed most of the region Tuesday. The vitamin D didn’t help temperatures moderate much as highs were more like mid to late December as opposed to mid November. We discuss a warming trend below, after a frigid start to your Wednesday.

Status-weather-clear-iconWednesday: Mostly sunny; 19/ 39

A strong area of high pressure will move overhead Wednesday and help supply a mostly sunny sky.  Despite the sun, it’ll be another unseasonably cold day.  Many outlying communities will begin the day in the upper teens before rising into the upper 30s to near 40 by afternoon- a solid 15 degrees below normal.

Status-weather-clouds-iconThursday: Partly cloudy; 28/ 49

The same high pressure that will be directly overhead Wednesday will begin to move east Thursday. This will put our region in a southwesterly air flow and allow temperatures to begin moderating. After another cold start, highs will push towards the 50 degree mark Thursday afternoon.

Status-weather-clouds-iconFriday: Partly cloudy; 35/ 52

We’ll wrap the work week up with a few more clouds and temperatures still slightly cooler than normal, though much milder than those we’re dealing with now.

 

Status-weather-showers-day-iconSaturday:  Turning cloudy with PM showers (0.20″); 40/ 59

Model data continues to hint at increasing clouds and the threat of afternoon light rain. We’ll initially have to overcome the dry air mass in place, but by afternoon/ evening we should have scattered showers beginning to impact central portions of the state.

Status-weather-showers-scattered-iconSunday: Cloudy with rain likely (0.45″); 52/ 60

More widespread rain will arrive for the second half of your weekend.  Highs will approach 60 and should we see any sunshine (not looking likely at this point), temperatures could go into the lower to middle 60s. While temperatures will be much warmer we’ll have to contend with rain Sunday.

Status-weather-storm-night-iconMonday: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm (0.50); 34/ 63

A strong cold front will blow through the state Monday evening. Out ahead of the front, an impressive surge of warmer and more humid air will move north and encompass central Indiana during the day. In fact, latest model data suggests dew points reach the lower 60s Monday. The combination between the warmer, more humid air in place and an impressive surge of arctic air behind the front could team up to produce a clap or two of thunder with the moderate to heavy rain threat Monday afternoon as the front moves through. Temperatures will then crash Monday night.

Status-weather-snow-scattered-day-iconTuesday: Scattered snow flurries; 24/ 34

The big story Tuesday will be the much colder air mass rushing into the state on strong and gusty northwest winds. Just enough moisture may linger to create the chance of scattered snow flurries.

Permanent link to this article: https://indywx.com/wednesday-forecast-a-bitterly-cold-start/

Nov 12

A Closer Look At Tuesday

Hoosiers are awaking to roughly half an inch of snow across the majority of central Indiana. The forecast went as planned overnight and we’ll keep a close eye on the lake effect band of snow hammering the Indiana snow belt.  Short term, high resolution, data (below) suggests snow showers move back into north-central Indiana by late morning/ early afternoon- primarily north of the Indianapolis metro.

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Otherwise, it’s going to be a cold day with temperatures only rising into the middle 30s. This is much more like December as opposed to mid November and a solid 20 degrees below the average high of 54.

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We have another “fun time” ahead in the mid range and we’ll begin to discuss the next storm potential later tonight.  As you can see, the GFS and ECMWF are in all sorts of disagreement below…

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Permanent link to this article: https://indywx.com/a-closer-look-at-tuesday/

Nov 10

Monday Forecast: Snow Develops By Evening

Updated 11.11.13 @ 8:30a

Zionsville, IN Despite some wind (top wind gusts this weekend reached around 30 MPH) and a chilly Sunday, the weekend was a beautiful one, complete with lots-o-sunshine!  A more active time of things is ahead to kick off the work week.  We discuss below…

Status-weather-snow-scattered-day-iconMonday: Increasing cloudiness with PM rain showers transitioning to light snow (0.50″); 28/ 46

The day will dawn with some sunshine, but clouds will be on the increase and showers won’t be far behind. This is all part of the early season arctic cold front we’ve been talking about.  We think showers (initially rain) arrive into north-central Indiana as early as the early to mid afternoon hours before pushing fairly rapidly south. It’s towards late afternoon/ early evening rain begins to transition to snow. Light snow will continue into the nighttime hours and potentially accumulate to around half an inch across most of central Indiana.

There are a couple of items we’ll have to monitor closely through the overnight and that’s the exact placement of what should be some impressive bands of lake effect snow streaming off Lake Michigan.  While the more significant accumulations, upwards of half a foot for the Indiana snow belt, will remain well north of us, there is the chance a more concentrated band of snow could reach as far south to impact portions of north-central Indiana late Monday night into Tuesday morning and result in accumulations of an inch or two for localized communities. Again, this will have to be handled as a “NowCast” scenario and isn’t set in stone.  If locally heavier snow accumulations do develop with the localized lake enhancement, the majority of this would be north of our immediate coverage area.

Temperatures will plummet Monday night into the lower to middle 20s on a gusty northwest wind.  Needless to say, slick spots could develop on area roadways Monday night.

Status-weather-snow-scattered-day-iconTuesday: Scattered AM snow showers (localized 0.50″); 22/ 35

We’ll keep an eye to area radars Tuesday, particularly in the morning hours as scattered snow showers (potential lake enhanced snow for localized spots) continue.  Conditions will be much more like winter than fall so plan to bundle up. In fact, temperatures will average close to 20 degrees below average for afternoon highs. Any lingering snow showers or flurries will begin to dissipate during the afternoon, paving way for a clear and very cold Tuesday night.

Status-weather-clear-iconWednesday: Sunny; 19/ 42

High pressure will be overhead Wednesday and help supply a day filled with sunshine, although it’ll remain MUCH colder than normal.  We’ll awake to the upper teens followed by highs reaching the lower 40s Wednesday afternoon.

Status-weather-clouds-iconThursday: Partly cloudy; 28/ 49

Temperatures will begin to moderate slowly Thursday as high pressure moves to our east. This will set the stage for a return southwesterly air flow and corresponding milder regime, albeit slowly.  After yet another cold and frosty night, temperatures will make a run at 50 degrees Thursday afternoon.

imagesFriday: Mostly cloudy; 35/ 49

A weak weather system will scoot through the region Friday and lead to an increase in cloud cover. Thinking, at least for now, has the area trying to recover from the cold, dry air mass in place so any sort of precipitation will, most likely, be tough to come by. That said, we’ll continue to monitor to see if we need to introduce a scattered light shower into our Friday forecast.

Status-weather-showers-scattered-iconSaturday: Cloudy with developing light rain; (0.25″) 39/ 52

The early look at next weekend places the region under a southerly flow of air with moisture making a return north, potentially out ahead of a rather significant storm system we’ll have to deal with early next week. The end result will initially be a rather cloudy, gloomy time of things, including developing light rain Saturday.

Permanent link to this article: https://indywx.com/monday-forecast-snow-develops-this-evening/

Nov 10

Video Update On Snow Accumulation & The Cold

Here’s a quick video update taking a look more closely at the forecast data for accumulating snow ahead Monday evening, as well as the impressive early season shot of cold…

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Permanent link to this article: https://indywx.com/video-updated-on-snow-accumulation-the-cold/