Winter mess arrives Friday
The warm air we have enjoyed will go away and a wintry mess will move in overnight and stay most of Friday. So, let’s walk through the timeline. Winter Storm Warnings and Winter Weather Advisories have been posted.
THIS EVENING: We will see all rain this evening, with warm temps in the 50s, falling to upper 40s by midnight.
OVERNIGHT..WINTRY MIX: NW Indiana will see a wintry mix shortly after midnight, central Indiana will see a wintry mix by 3 or 4 am. Temps will quickly drop below freezing and roads will quickly turn to ice after that. Because of the rain, pre-treating roads will not work, so anticipate icy roads for the Friday morning commute. There may be a number of school delays as well. Temps will reach the upper 20s by the end of the commute.
FRIDAY, MIX CHANGES TO SNOW: This is the trickiest part of the forecast. Air in the upper levels of the atmosphere will be above freezing for awhile, so the wintry mix could last until late morning. Around Noon-ish, we will see many places change over to snow. Snow should last until late afternoon and evening depending on location as colder air at all levels of the atmosphere arrive.
ICE AND SNOW TOTALS: Because of the track of the storm, we anticipate low ice and fairly low snow totals, though there could be some heavy burst in places. Most places north and west of Indy will see a Trace to up to 2″ of snow. most places east and south will see 2″ to 5″ of snow, with most places towards the lower end of the totals. Ice accumulations look to be 0.10 to 0.20″
8-DAY FORECAST: More focus on this later…expect bitter cold for the weekend, more snow Monday, more bitter cold air until Wednesday, then milder Thursday.