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Snow on the Circle

STATEWIDE — You’re probably wondering why just a small amount of snow fell. The National Weather Service has the answer, and a look forward to next week.

“Just a couple degrees error in the temperature of the atmosphere is basically what caused that,” says Meteorologist Randy Bowers with the National Weather Service office in Indianapolis, “so, we ended up with a situation where it was really, really wet snow and so because of that, it wasn’t as fluffy. It didn’t quite accumulate to the depth that we expected.”

Bowers says just a few degrees difference in their forecast prediction models can make all the difference and be the deciding factor when it comes to the type of snow that you see. In most parts of central Indiana, only of few inches of snow fell, and most of that snow became wet slush on the road. There were some slick spots and accidents Wednesday, but overall, not a bad day for winter weather.

That is, if you don’t live up north.

“Northern Indiana, they ended up with amounts that were closer to what was forecasted, and it was a situation that played out pretty well, as we anticipated,” says Bowers. The National Weather Service says over 6 inches fell in Fort Wayne, breaking a record for January 25th. The old record of 5.4-inches was set back in 1978 during the blizzard. Over 9-inches of snow has fallen in Fort Wayne this month, which is slightly above normal.

Central Indiana had a few instances of “thundersnow” Wednesday morning.

Now, moving on to this week and next week.

Bowers talks about what you can expect today, “precipitation intensity is going to be lighter, so there should be just periodic flurries and occasional, slightly heavier snow showers. You’ll notice occasional reduced visibility, but nothing substantial.”

For much of today, Friday, this weekend and early next week, there will be small flurries of snow, but nothing more than an inch. Bowers says the temperature rises by Saturday, so much so that any snow may turn to rain in certain parts of central Indiana. There’s a small dip in the high temp Sunday and into Monday of next week.

Forecasters expect temps to hover around the mid-30s to low-50s, depending on where you live.