Freezing drizzle could be a small factor this morning, especially north of Interstate 70, and especially on elevated surfaces. At the surface, temperatures moved to around or a little above 32 just as morning drive began. Fog is also into the mix, with the visibility running about 2 miles during the overnight hours. And, In case you never looked outside yesterday evening: in most places there’s a new 3/4″ of snow on that one spot on the sidewalk that you’d cleared off.
That little skiff of snow was expected, and is in fact actually part of the plan of milder air moving in. Surface temps should pass 32 by the end of the morning rush hours and we’ll just be looking at drizzle chances until the steady rain kicks in tonight.
Rain should start around 5pm in Lafayette and around 6pm in South Bend, and the Indianapolis metro area. Rain will start by 7 or 8pm in Muncie and Richmond. I’m still thinking we’ll end up with about three-quarters of an inch of rain by the time systems departs Saturday morning around 9. The combination of rain and the continued melting of a foot of snow may produce minor street or low land flooding.
Sunday will be awesome, at least by recent standards. Significant snow shrinkage should occur. How much snow did we get yesterday? The National Weather Service measured .7 inches.
SNOW STATS:
18.2″ January so far
30.6″ January 1978
27.1″ Winter season so far
10.4″ Average season at this point
15.3″ Last year at this point
INDY ALMANAC:
The average high today is 35 and the average low is 20. Records are 62 and -16. The sun rises at 8:06 and sets at 5:40.
PAUL’S PREVIOUS PREDICTION:
Yesterday’s high was 31. My forecast was 32.
INDY FORECAST:
Today: Drizzle and fog. Freezing drizzle chances during the morning rush hours, mainly on elevated surfaces, mainly north of Indy. Chance of showers by late afternoon. High 38.
Tonight: Rainy, with rising temperatures to about 43.
Saturday: Rain chance until mid-morning. Temps fall to the mid and upper 30s in the afternoon. High 43 in the morning.
Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy. Low 23.
Sunday: Mostly to partly sunny. High 42.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy. Low 36.
Monday: Partly cloudy. Chance of showers. High 44.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy. Low 28.
Tuesday: Chance of rain and snow showers. High 37.
Tuesday Night: Chance of snow showers. Low 16.
Wednesday: Partly to mostly cloudy. Chance of flurries. High 25.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy. Low 16.
Thursday: Partly cloudy. High 39.
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