Winter storm warnings, watches cover nearly all of Indiana

Winter storm warnings and watches are in effect for much Indiana. From the National Weather Service, here are the warnings and watches, by Indiana counties, and what’s expected:

Winter storm warnings

• Benton, Lake, Porter and Newton: From 11 p.m. EST Tuesday to 7 p.m. EST Thursday. Between 6 and 12 inches of snow are possible through Wednesday, with an additional 3 to 6 inches possible 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.
• Carroll, Howard, Tippecanoe, Warren: From 1 a.m. Wednesday to 1 a.m. Friday. A brief period of sleet and freezing rain is expected, followed by heavy snow. Total snow accumulations in excess of 10 inches. Winds gusting as high as 35 mph may cause blowing and drifting of snow. Hazardous conditions could impact both the morning and evening commutes on Thursday.
• Cass, Elkhart, Fulton, Kosciusko, LaGrange, LaPorte, Marshall, Noble, Pulaski, Starke, Steuben, St. Joseph, White: From 1 a.m. EST Wednesday to 7 p.m. EST Thursday. Total snow accumulations of 10 to 15 inches are expected with locally higher amounts and a light glaze of ice. Hazardous conditions could impact travel starting late Tuesday night through Thursday.
• Allen, Huntington, Miami, Wabash and Whitley: From 5 a.m. Wednesday to 7 p.m. Thursday. Expect at least 10 inches of snow and dangerous conditions for travel.
• 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 is expected. Total snow accumulations in excess of 7 inches and a light glaze of ice. Hazardous conditions could make travel impossible and impact both the morning and evening commutes on Thursday.
• Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, Miami, Whitley and Wabash: From 5 a.m. Wednesday to 7 p.m. Thursday. Total snow accumulations of 10 to 15 inches are expected with locally higher amounts and a light glaze of ice. Hazardous conditions could impact travel starting Wednesday morning, persisting through the day Thursday.
• Jasper: From 7 a.m. EST Wednesday to midnight EST Thursday. Total snow accumulations of 5 to 8 inches are expected with up to 0.5 inch of sleet and 0.1 inch of ice. Winds will gust as high as 40 mph.
• Adams, Blackford, Grant, Jay and Wells: From 1 p.m. Wednesday to 1 a.m. Friday. Total snow accumulations of 8 to 12 inches are expected with ice accumulations of around 0.1 inch. Hazardous conditions could impact travel starting Wednesday afternoon through Thursday night.
• Fayette, Union and Wayne: From 5 p.m. Wednesday to 7 a.m. Friday. Total snow accumulations of 4 to 8 inches are expected with up to 0.1 inch of ice. Winds could be gusting as high as 35 mph.
• 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 is expected. Total sleet and snow accumulations in excess of 3 inches and ice accumulations of up to 0.1 inch possible. Hazardous conditions could make travel impossible and impact both the morning and evening commutes on Thursday.
• Gibson, Pike, Posey, Spencer, Vanderburgh and Warrick: From 6 p.m. EST Wednesday to 7 a.m. EST Friday. Heavy mixed precipitation is possible. Total snow and sleet accumulations of up to 2 inches are possible, and ice accumulations could reach 0.25 inch with locally higher amounts possible.

Winter storm watches

• Franklin: Heavy mixed precipitation with 3-6 inches of snow and as much as 0.1 inch of ice from Wednesday afternoon through Friday morning..
• Jefferson, Crawford, Clark, Dubois, Floyd, Harrison, Orange, Perry, Scott and Washington: Heavy mixed precipitation possible. Multiple inches of snow and ice accumulations in excess of 0.33 inch possible from late Wednesday night through Friday morning.

A Winter Storm Warning is in effect for the northern quarter of Indiana from early WED. until late THU. Winter Storm Watch is in effect from WED. until early FRI. morning for much of Indiana. There will likely be additional warnings issued over the next 24-36 hours.

Monday night: Skies will become partly cloudy tonight with temperatures dropping into the mid to upper 20s.

Tuesday: Much warmer air is set to scoot in for our Tuesday as well above average temperatures take over the state. This will open the floodgates per say for an extended period of active weather with rain beginning to move in during the latter half of Tuesday. By the overnight hours into early Wednesday, rain looks to transition to snow as colder air starts entering the picture.

Highs are expected to push into the upper 40s to mid 50s with breezy winds accompanying this mild air.

Wednesday: Activity will continue to ramp up for our Wednesday with what will be the first of two waves of this system. Rain will switch over to a wintry mix and/or snow at times throughout the day. Light icing will be possible for areas along interstate 70.

Highs look to occur early in the day with a wide variety of temps from the upper 20s to the upper 40s.

8-Day Forecast: The second wave of this system will arrive going into our Thursday as we see more of the state make a transition to all snow. How fast we go from rain/wintry mix to all snow remains uncertain. It will become breezy as well with temperatures continuing to get much colder. By late Thursday, we look to work back in quiet conditions. Snow and ice totals remain uncertain for central Indiana. There is more confidence for longer durations of heavy snow in the northern third of the state.

Travel impacts are likely going to be moderate to extensive with power outages possible. With the very cold air in place going into the weekend, travel will remain difficult due to the snow and ice having practically nowhere to go.

Near seasonable air will then return by early next week.