Impactful storm imminent, winter storm warnings for most of Indiana
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — After a balmy start to February, we are going to be under the gun for a fairly serious winter weather maker beginning tomorrow and lasting into Thursday.
Winter storm warnings
- Benton, Jasper, Lake, Porter and Newton: Until 7 p.m. EST Thursday. Heavy snow rates and dangerous travel conditions expected. Total snow accumulations of 9 to 14 inches through Wednesday afternoon. The highest snowfall rates, in excess of 1 inch per hour, will occur through early afternoon Wednesday. An additional 2 to 5 inches of snow may fall from Wednesday night through Thursday. Travel will be very difficult to impossible. The hazardous conditions will impact both the morning and evening commutes on Wednesday and Thursday.
- Cass, Elkhart, Fulton, Kosciusko, LaGrange, La Porte, Marshall, Noble, Pulaski, Starke, Steuben, St. Joseph, White: Through 7 p.m. Thursday. Heavy snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 10 to 15 inches with locally higher amounts and ice accumulations of a light glaze. Rain will change to snow from northwest to southeast tonight. The first round of snow late tonight into Wednesday evening will be the when the heaviest snow will occur with 8 to 12 inches of snow expected for the period. Additional lighter accumulations are expected Thursday along with blowing and drifting snow and falling temperatures. Visibilities will be reduced Thursday, especially in rural areas. Travel could be very difficult to impossible. Widespread blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility. The hazardous conditions could impact travel through the day Thursday.
- Carroll, Howard, Tippecanoe, Warren: Through 1 a.m. Friday. A brief period of sleet and freezing rain followed by heavy snow expected. Total snow accumulations in excess of 10 inches. Winds gusting as high as 35 mph may cause blowing and drifting of snow. Travel could be very difficult to impossible. Patchy blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commute.
- Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, Miami, Whitley and Wabash: From 5 a.m. Wednesday to 7 p.m. Thursday. Heavy snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 10 to 15 inches with locally higher amounts and ice accumulations of a light glaze. Rain will change to snow from northwest to southeast late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. The first round of snow will be the when the heaviest snow will occur with 8 to 12 inches of snow is expected. Additional accumulations are expected Thursday along with blowing and drifting snow and falling temperatures. Visibilities will be reduced Thursday, especially in rural areas. Travel could be very difficult to impossible. Widespread blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility. The hazardous conditions could impact travel starting Wednesday morning, persisting through the day Thursday.
- Indianapolis plus the counties of Boone, Clay, Clinton, Delaware, Fountain, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Henry, Madison, Marion, Montgomery, Parke, Putnam, Randolph, Tipton, Vigo and Vermillion: From 7 a.m. Wednesday to 1 a.m. Friday. A brief period of sleet and freezing rain followed by heavy snow expected. Total snow accumulations in excess of 7 inches and ice accumulations of a light glaze. Travel could be very difficult to impossible. Patchy blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commute.
- Adams, Blackford, Grant, Jay and Wells: From 1 p.m. Wednesday to 1 a.m. Friday. Heavy mixed precipitation expected. Total snow accumulations of 8 to 12 inches and ice accumulations of around 0.1 inch. Rain will change to snow from northwest to southeast on Wednesday. Some freezing rain and sleet could mix in at times. The heaviest snow will occur with the second round of precipitation Thursday into Thursday evening. with blowing and drifting snow and falling temperatures. Visibilities will be reduced Thursday and Thursday night, especially in rural areas. Travel could be very difficult to impossible. Widespread blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility. The hazardous conditions could impact travel starting Wednesday afternoon, persisting into Thursday night.
- Fayette, Union and Wayne: From 5 p.m. Wednesday to 7 a.m. Friday: Heavy mixed precipitation expected. Total snow accumulations of 4 to 8 inches and ice accumulations of up to 0.1 inch. Winds gusting as high as 35 mph. Travel could be very difficult to impossible. Patchy blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commute.
- Bartholomew, Brown, Daviess, Decatur, Greene, Jackson, Jennings, Johnson, Knox, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Morgan, Owen, Rush, Shelby and Sullivan: From 7 p.m. Wednesday to 1 a.m. Friday. Heavy mixed precipitation expected. Total sleet and snow accumulations in excess of 3 inches and ice accumulations of up to 0.1 inch. Travel could be very difficult. Patchy blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commute.
- Gibson, Pike, Posey, Spencer, Vanderburgh and Warrick: From 7 p.m. EST Wednesday to 7 a.m. EST Friday. Heavy mixed precipitation is possible. Total snow and sleet accumulations of 0.5 to 2 inches, and ice accumulations of .25 inch with locally higher amounts possible. Power outages and tree damage are likely due to the ice. Travel could be nearly impossible and should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. The hazardous conditions could impact those travelers during the morning or evening commutes, especially on Thursday.
Tuesday night: The early beginnings of this upcoming big system are set to kick off tonight as showers will move in. Rain coverage becomes widespread by the overnight hours. As colder air pushes south, snow will begin to form.
Lows will dip into the mid 30s.
Wednesday: A transition from rain to a wintry mix will commence as we go throughout our Wednesday. This is where we still have some uncertainty in terms of how fast the freezing line pushes south. Regardless, brief periods of freezing rain/sleet are possible along and near interstate 70. Heavy snow will infiltrate much of the northern half of the state. Overall, this will be the first of two waves we deal with.
A brief break from the more intense precipitation is likely in the latter half of Wednesday before the second and more intense wave pushes in. We look to transition to all snow going into early Thursday morning.
Highs are expected to occur early Wednesday morning.
Thursday: The second wave will be in full force by the Thursday morning commute. It will be quite dangerous throughout much of the day with the heavy snow overtaking central Indiana. Snowfall rates could be up to 2+ inches per hour. Travel will become impossible in some areas, especially for those who get heavily affected by the first wave. Wind gusts of over 30 MPH will cause blizzard-like conditions for extended periods of time. Travel is HEAVILY discouraged on Thursday.
When it is all said and done, we are thinking snowfall totals will wind up being on the higher end for a good chunk of the state. Keep in mind, the more wintry mix that occurs, the lower the snow totals will be. Nonetheless, you need to plan for both snow and ice because we are talking major impacts regardless of what happens. One more note on totals, if we make a quicker transition to snow, it is definitely possible to see a top 5-10 snow event in Indianapolis.
Temperatures are expected to fall throughout the day with highs taking place in the morning hours.
8-Day Forecast: Impacts from this system will actually linger going into the weekend due to bitter arctic air returning. This very cold air will cause the snow and ice to go nowhere for at least a couple of days. Highs then return to the 30s by Sunday.
