Category: Windy

Cold Today; Messy Monday Ahead.

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Forecast Updated 02.16.14 @ 11:15a

Cold Sunday…Fresh off celebrating our snowiest winter on record (surpassed last night at IND at 51.6″ and the Record Event Report can be found here), we’ll enjoy a dry day, but blowing and drifting snow will remain an issue in the open country. A few breaks in the cloud cover can be expected this afternoon on what will otherwise be a rather cloudy day.  Highs will only climb into the lower to middle 20s (well below the average high of 40 and closer to the normal low of 24).  Yes, our cold, snowy winter just keeps on keepin’ on!

Snow And Ice Issues Monday…A storm system will move through the region Monday and deliver a mixture of precipitation types across central Indiana.  The way we see things unfolding as of this forecast update brings a wintry mix of sleet and snow into the city around noon with periods of moderate to even heavy wintry precipitation falling into the mid to late afternoon hours before we begin to see the shield of moisture push northeast.  This will be a “thump and go” type event.

As for precipitation type, this remains a challenge and will require much fine tuning later tonight and through the day tomorrow (another now cast scenario).  We’re thinking mostly snow is the dominant form of precipitation from the northern suburbs of Indianapolis and points north.  Here, 2-3″ of wet snow is possible, polished off with a light glaze of a freezing rain/sleet mixture before precipitation ends.  For the city, itself, we think around 1-2″ of snow is possible with a glaze of freezing rain of around a tenth of an inch. Farther south, to include the southern Indianapolis suburbs, an icy mixture of sleet and freezing rain will be the concern with glaze potential approaching one quarter inch.  Again, we caution this is our best idea at this point and we’ll post some fresh thoughts later this evening.

Needless to say, tomorrow stands to include treacherous driving conditions in and around central Indiana and the National Weather Service will likely issue Winter Weather/ Freezing Rain Advisories later this afternoon to account for the wintry conditions anticipated tomorrow afternoon.

Flooding Concerns On The Rise…With such a deep snowpack across central Indiana, combined with a frozen ground, flooding concerns will be on the rise as early as the middle to latter part of the week.  We think dry and chilly (albeit milder) conditions will be with us Tuesday, but low clouds, fog, and drizzle likely develop by Wednesday as milder air streams north over the snowpack locked in across the region.

By Thursday, our attention turns to the potential of heavy rain and a couple of thunderstorms as a cold front blows through the region.  Early ideas of Thursday rainfall numbers would suggest anywhere from .50-1″ of rain is laid down and when combined with the heavy snow pack and milder air, flooding concerns will certainly be present.  Needless to say, if you live in a flood prone area, please monitor the situation closely later this week.

Winter Blows Back In…As promised, the briefly milder shot of air would be just that- brief.  We continue to monitor data that suggests a colder, more wintry, pattern blows right back into the region to wrap up February.

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Valentine’s Day Snow

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Forecast Updated 02.14.14 @ 11:00a

Accumulating Valentine’s Day Snow…The Canadian led the charge and other modeling has followed suit.  The region will deal with accumulating snow Valentines Day as low pressure moves southeast out of Missouri into the Tennessee Valley.  We think snow will fall at a good clip, periodically heavy, and begin around mid morning around the city.  In fact, a strip of 2-5″ of snow is likely to be laid down between Indianapolis and Louisville later today.  Latest radar trends from upstream and banding features suggest snowfall amounts may reach 6″ along the I-70 corridor. Needless to say, if you have travel plans this afternoon plan for snow covered roads and slick travel.

A fresh shot of arctic air will drill south into the region tonight and result in Saturday “wake up” temperatures in the single digits with a biting northwest wind.

Another Fast Moving Clipper…After a mostly dry Saturday, we forecast light snow to build back into the region Saturday night into early Sunday.  This will only be a light snow event and most amounts will be in the dusting to 1″ category.  The sun should quickly return Sunday afternoon, though it’ll remain colder than normal.

Foggy Start To The Week…As a southerly air flow transports milder air north and over the snow pack across central Indiana fog will develop.  It’s possible some freezing drizzle is dealt with Monday morning before temperatures rise above freezing.  Prepare for a downright gloomy start to the work week.  A cold front will push through the region Monday evening and lead to a period of showers, potentially transitioning to light snow or a light wintry mix Monday night as cold air sweeps back in.

A Spring Tease…A spring tease will have many Hoosiers wanting to break out the shorts by the mid week period.  In fact, highs will zoom into the 60s Thursday, courtesy of a strong and gusty southwest breeze.  The downside?  A line of showers and gusty thunderstorms later in the day.  While we still have a week to monitor this situation, the possibility is there for a few storms to reach severe levels across the Ohio Valley region.  Stay tuned as we monitor this developing weather situation.

Looking longer term, we anticipate the briefly milder spring “tease” to be just that.  Signals are increasingly favorable for a prolonged period of cold, wintry conditions building back into the region as we put a wrap on February and head into March.

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ANOTHER Bitterly Cold Air Mass

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Forecast Updated: 02.10.14 @ 5:05p

Bitterly Cold Air To Begin The New Work Week…A fresh batch of bitterly cold air settled into the Hoosier state overnight and is ready to greet us “smack dab in the face” on the way out the door.  We call this “ouch cold.”  Additionally, winds will remain gusty this morning and result in wind chill values as cold as 20-30 degrees below zero Monday.  Normally, this would be a huge deal, but seems to be “just another day” during the snowy and bitterly cold winter of 2013-2014.

As the arctic high moves overhead tonight into Tuesday morning, we’ll experience the coldest air of the week, bottoming out anywhere from 7 to 14 degrees below zero across the snowy central Indiana landscape. Officially, we’re forecasting 9 below to begin the day Tuesday for Indianapolis.

Midweek Moderation…Though we’ll remain below seasonal levels straight through the forecast period, we’ll notice a moderating feel to the air mass by the middle of the week.  The relatively milder air may be offset by strong and gusty winds blowing from the southwest Thursday in advance of our next weather maker.  Some concern will be there for blowing and drifting snow of the existing snow pack Thursday for the open country.

Monitoring Late Week…Forecast models continue to suggest we’ll deal with our next winter weather maker towards late week, but we caution timing and the precise track of the low pressure system will have to be fine tuned as we go through the week.  At this extremely early stage in the game, it does appear as if an accumulating snow will occur with this system in the Friday-Saturday time period. Stay tuned.

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Here We Go Again…

Yet another winter storm is bearing down on the region and will promise a snowy time of things here Tuesday evening into Wednesday.

Surface low pressure will begin to organize over the lower Mississippi River Valley Tuesday morning and move northeast…eventually into PA before a secondary low takes over off the Northeast coast Wednesday.  We like our track of the storm below.

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This will really be the first storm that’s tapped into Gulf of Mexico moisture since the major winter storm that pounded our area early last month.  Moisture will be plentiful with this system and, when combined with the cold air, will lead to significant snow accumulation for most of central Indiana, with significant ice accumulation expected downstate across southern sections of Indiana.

We think snow begins to develop across central Indiana as early as early to mid afternoon Tuesday, but the heaviest of the snow will fall Tuesday night into the wee morning hours Wednesday.  In fact, snowfall rates may approach 1″ per hour for a time Tuesday night, especially where the heavy snow bands set up.  Just exactly where do these heavy bands of snow develop?  It’s a very tough call, but thinking at this juncture would suggest mainly north of Indianapolis.  Additionally, latest data suggests a thundersnow report or two may occur tomorrow night within the heavy snow bands.  Snow will begin to taper from west to east Wednesday morning, but the open country will have to deal with some blowing and drifting through the day Wednesday as the low departs northeast.  We’ll then enjoy a dry and cold couple of days as arctic high pressure builds in before our next winter storm develops for the weekend…

We forecast widespread 4-8″ (localized 8″+ totals possible within convective heavy snow bands) of snow to accumulate by the time all is said and done across central Indiana and our call right now is for the greatest chance of those 8″ reports to fall within the highlighted zone below.

HVY Snow Totals 020414:020514

Quick Bullet Point Thoughts:

  • Snow develops towards 3-4pm Tuesday.
  • Heaviest snow falls Tuesday night into the wee morning hours Wednesday.
  • 4-8″ of snowfall expected across central Indiana, with heaviest totals from Indy’s northern suburbs and points north.  Locally heavier totals can be expected within the heavier convective snow bands.
  • Significant ice accumulation of 0.25″, or greater, possible down state
  • Placement of embedded heavy snow bands will have to be monitored closely Tuesday night and may be accompanied by thunder and lightning.
  • Snow begins to diminish Wednesday morning, but blowing and drifting continues through the day.

The dry slot, originally mentioned here Sunday, will likely impact southern and south-central Indiana late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning and will essentially shut off the accumulating snow threat south of I-70 during the wee morning hours Wednesday with some light freezing rain and/ or freezing drizzle glazing over the snow that falls.  Meanwhile, accumulating snow will begin to taper Wednesday morning north of I-70.  The latest high resolution NAM simulated radar, courtesy of Weatherbell Analytics, shows this well.

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Tracking Two Winter Storms This Week

Initial thoughts from our first of two winter storms this week can be found below.  We’ll fine tune that forecast this evening, but feel good about our initial call.

A second winter storm is brewing for the late week and weekend period.  While we still have details to sort out with this storm, thinking would take a deepening surface low out of the Deep South into Ohio for the weekend.  This would, once again, place central Indiana in the favored zone for heavy snow.  Additionally, with a deepening surface low into Ohio, wind would be of concern with considerable to severe blowing and drifting.  It’s still very early in the game and we have time to watch things unfold, but we wanted to go ahead and make sure you put a mental note on the Friday-Sunday period, as well….

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