The Bright Night Effect! And Miller Type "B" System?? I Have Your Answers!

Well, bloggers we tracked that snow moving across the viewing area last night which gave way to around an inch in most areas. Nothing to bad from a clipper system however some roads earlier this morning did have a light coating of snow causing traffic to slow down while out and about! I have a few snow reports from around the viewing area below. Take a look.You can see one of the few places to come in above what we called for with 2.2" Inches. This reports as seen above comes in from the Logansport, area. However everyone else right around that inch or less mark. Lafayette, Otterbein, Attica, all coming in with an inch. And Remington, coming in with just under an inch at 0.9" Inches.

One thing that I love when it comes to winter are the winter nights! I love to look outside while it's snowing to see how amazingly bright the night sky is. I love it! So I went out last night around 9:00pm EST to take a few pictures. Take a look at this.It's 9:pm and no flash on the camera. Yet you could still see everything as if it was the early evening. So what causes the night time to be so bright in the winter? Well, many of you may already know the answer. However for those who don't, Let me explain.

As with a bright Sunny day. The fresh snow pack reflects around 90% or more of the sunlight back into space! All this sunlight hitting the bright fresh snow pack can also cause whats called snow blindness. This is caused when the snow on the ground reflects the sunlight back into space instead of letting the ground absorb the sunlight.

Take a look at this image I also took last night around 9:pm EST.You can see how Bright the night winter sky is. Snow's large reflection of the sunlight also works on the night time sky as well. Yes, even without sun! Large reflection of light do to the snow pack causes the night sky to become much brighter, Since light is reflected back into the sky.

However when there are clouds in the area as seen in the image above, The the light from the city gets shot back down to the ground, enhancing the "Bright Night Effect". Something similar happens with clear nights and a bright full moon in the area. In this case with lots of snow on the ground and the full moon, Light would get reflected off of the snow and back into the sky!

I always thought this was something pretty cool so I wanted to share with you all.

Now I got an interesting question earlier this afternoon from one of our bloggers Duane. Here's the question.

Justin, lots of people talking about the possibility of a big snow next week....They are saying some models are beginning to show a rare Miller Type B system. What do you know about this type of system. What do you think our chances of this coming to fruition are?

Thanks,
Duane~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Well, Duane, If you remember in one of my older post someone asked me "I don't remember who?!?!" If I seen anymore snow systems to move into the area anytime soon. I posted a blog saying that we would see clipper systems for the rest of January and a better snow chance the first week of February. Well, this would be what I was talking about. However at that time it wasn't showing signs of being a Miller Type "B" system. So what does a miller type "B" system mean? And or what is it? Well here's a map I feel may help give everyone an idea.Let me start by saying this. There are two types of "Miller systems". A Miller type "A" System. And a Miller type "B" system. A miller type "A" system is known as a simple storm. It is only one area of low pressure that develops off shore. And is usually only in the form of Snow and rain. A little mix of sleet or freezing rain is possible however it is usually not to hard to figure out where the rain, snow or sleet, will set up. This is the type of system we usually see.

However a Miller type "B" system is known as a Complex storm and is more rare for our area. It features two distinct low pressure system. One well inland and the other developing off shore in the golf area and moving up the coast. This type of storm usually has Rain, Snow, Sleet, Freezing rain, Overall Mixed precipitation. And they can dump a good amount of snow in areas as the map above shows!

However will this be the case for Indiana next week? Well, I feel that it is to early to tell for sure at this time. However models do indicate a strong low pressure system developing that could give way to a good amount of snow in the area. But nothing is set in stone! This system does in-deed need to be watched closely over the next few days. This will be a system we all need to stay on top of. I will go ahead and say that a possible big snow system will develop over next week. However I won't even begin to give possible amounts as this thing could still change! It has way to much time to work with! Still who ever does see this system better watch out lol :)

Thanks for the question!

Now how about your weekend outlook? Let's take a look at what's in store.

Weekend Quick Cast.....

Tonight we will look for Mostly cloudy skies across the area. A few light scattered snow flurries are also possible. Expect a low tonight around 26* degrees. Winds light between 5 and 10 mph.

Saturday we will see mostly cloudy skies across the area. Maybe a few quick breaks in the clouds in the afternoon hours before more clouds move into the area later on that evening / night. Highs will be around 37* degrees with lows Saturday night around 23* degrees. Winds between 10 and 15 mph.

Sunday we will see mostly cloudy skies over the viewing area. Highs will be around 34* degrees with lows that night around 16* degrees. Winds will be light between 3 and 5 mph.
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That's about it for now bloggers. Have an AWESOME weekend!

God Bless!