More Snow Before A Quick Warm Up

Well bloggers, this has been on of the snowiest winters on record here in Indiana! And the snow just keeps on coming. Anyone who knows me knows that this has been the perfect winter for me! Snow on the ground the whole season long. It just doesn't get any better then that. I know a lot of you are sick of it by now however. And in this post I have both good news and bad news for everyone who is wishing for some warmer weather. Let's get started.

First off we do have some more winter weather in store by as soon as tonight! As we head into the over night hours we can expect another small Alberta clipper to make it's way into the viewing area sometime between 9:pm and 11:pm EST. Not looking like a big snow by any means however another 1" to 2" inches is looking likely. Take a look at this precipitation map below.

This is looking into late tonight / early early Sunday. Right now I'm looking for those darker shades of blue to be in that 1" to 2" inch range with the lighter blues in that inch or less range. I'm agreeing with what the National weather service is forecasting below.

I really like the numbers. Expect a lot tonight around 17* F degrees with light winds between 3 and 5 mph.

Now the next system to be watching will be Monday afternoon! The timing is still out on this system as well as what type of precipitation could it will fall as. Some models are showing a good mix of both rain and snow while others are trying to mix in a little freezing precipitation as well.

You can see the type of precipitation forecast map above showing the chance of some freezing rain with this next system Monday. This is something we will watch closely. right now even if we do pick up some freezing rain I doubt it would be more then 0.10" inches.

The Bufkit models give up hope that we will see more of a rain snow mix rather then an icy mess at this time. And they usually do a pretty good job at forecasting winter weather.

You can see we're looking at all snow for Tonight into Sunday and currently mostly snow if you look to the left of this chart for Monday as well. This is something we will continue to keep a close eye on as we head closer to Monday.

Here's your quick cast below.

Tonight- look for more clouds to move into the area with snow showers starting between 9:pm and 11:pm EST. Show showers will go into early Sunday. Snowfall amounts between 1" and 2" inches. Winds light between 3 and 5 mph. Expect a lot tonight around 17*F degrees.

Sunday- look for cloudy skies to start the day with skies trying to become partly cloudy as we head into the afternoon / evening. Look for a high around 29* degrees with a low Sunday night around 19* degrees. Winds light between 5 and 10 mph.

Monday- a mix of precipitation moves into the area bringing rain / snow likely. Not completely ruling out some freezing rain at this time. New precipitation amounts between .25" and .50" inches. High around 36*F degrees with a low around 22*F degrees. Winds light between 10 and 15 mph.

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So with all that talk of more winter weather where is the good news for everyone ready for a warm up? Well I got you covered!

Highs will start to go up as we head into next week. I'm seeing highs from the MOS models reaching the low to upper 40s likely between Tuesday and Saturday! Take a look at these numbers below.

That should give you all something to look forward too as we head through the next couple of days. Have a great weekend bloggers! God Bless.

Storm reports.

Well, the rain / thundershowers are making their way out of the state this afternoon as we try and dry out. Here is a look at how much rain was picked up from across the area.

Kentland, 1.13" inches

Fort Wayne, 1.08" inches

Lafayette, 1.08" inches

Attica, 0.94" inches

Remington, 0.82" inches

Rensselaer, 0.59" inches

Covington, 0.35" inches

We did have a few storm reports around the area from yesterdays weather event. Only a few high wind reports. The closest report to home was in Lebanon, out of Warren county. Take a look below.

WEST LEBANON

WARREN

IN

ONE UTILITY POLE SNAPPED AT BASE ... COUPLE TREES DAMAGED ... CORNFIELDS DAMAGED ...

As we head through the afternoon we will see the skies start to clear out a bit. Take a look at this satellite image below. You can see all the clearing skies heading this way as the rain showers continue to push off to the east.

Tonight we can look for partly to mostly cloudy skies with a low around 43* degrees. Winds light between 5 and 10 mph.

Monday we will start the day with partly cloudy to mostly cloudy skies with around a 30% chance of a stray shower. skies will clear as the day goes on becoming partly cloudy to mostly sunny. High around 65* degrees with a low that night around 41* degrees. Winds light between 5 and 10 mph.

Storms moving into the Lafayette, area

This is how things look in the Lafayette, area as of 4:20pm EDT. Storms are moving into the area. We can expect gusty winds, Heavy rainfall of around a quarter inch an hour, along with lightning as with any storm.

There is around a 60% chance of small hail to the north of Lafayette. Nothing severe with this cell as of now.

Scattered thundershowers across the area this afternoon / Sunday.

A few scattered thunderstorms / thundershowers will be moving through the area this afternoon / evening into the overnight hours and on into early Sunday. We're already seeing cloudy overcast skies across the Midwest as scattered thundershowers are popping up. You can see in this local radar image below taken at 1:21pm EDT.

Currently none of these cells are severe. We do have a slight risk of severe weather issued by the National weather service however I believe that most of these cells around our area will be isolated to moderate thunderstorms rather then severe. I'm looking at a 90% chance of rain however a 65% to 70% chance of actual thunderstorms. Our current Total totals index sets around 44 to 46 which indicates isolated thunderstorms possible rather then strong, as well as our Lifted Index (LI) that sets around 0 to -1 which also supports isolated thundershowers rather then strong storms this afternoon. Still I cannot rule out the minor chance of a stray strong storm in the area.

We're seeing these storms from along a cold front that will make its way through the area later this evening / into tonight. Here is a look at the current surface chart below.

As we head into the evening / overnight hours today we will see these scattered showers become more well formed and compact as they push through the area. More widespread rain across the state. Right now I'm looking for rainfall between .10" and .25" inches tonight with higher rainfall by the time we head into Sunday where we could pick up anywhere between .25" and .60" inches of rain.

Here is a sneak peak into how things should look later this evening around 8:pm EDT.

Scattered showers continue off and on into early Sunday, Here is a chart looking into Sunday morning around 8:am EDT below.

Expect showers Sunday in the morning hours, Mostly cloudy skies otherwise, showers should start to tapper off sometime between 12:pm and 2:pm EDT.

Expect a low tonight as the cold front moves through the area of around 58* degrees, A high Sunday nice and cool around 68* degrees with a low that night around 47* degrees. I'm still not seeing our first frost in the area as of now, However it's looking like we can expect one between the 11th and 20th.

Blue / Green Light Over Lafayette, Indiana?! September 27th A Meteor Exploded!

My fiancee, myself and soon to be mother in law was sitting outside the other night enjoying a small Autumn fire when we saw a flash of light, blue-ish / green-ish in color. It looked like a streak of light that started from up high in the sky and falling toward the ground. Almost like a firework however we couldn't hear any sound. We wondered what it was but then soon brushed it off like no big deal. I couldn't let it go and kept looking online for something to explain what it was. Turns out, it was a meteor that exploded over Columbus Ohio! And there were MANY MANY reports of the event!

It was reported that it could be seen from at least 14 US states! Here is a chart showing where it was seen below.

I also found a video of the meteor exploding from Greenwood, Indiana. This is pretty much how things looked for us in Lafayette, as well. No sound just a quick streak of light! Pretty amazing! Take a look.

Here is a little more detail on the event from the Space Weather web sight below.

OHIO FIREBALL: On Sept. 27th, A lot of people reported seeing a blue / green-ish light in the night sky! Turns out it was a meteor that exploded in the skies above the US midwest. Some Witnesses reported shadows cast upon the ground, unusual sounds, and a swirling contrail marking the aftermath of the blast. 

"It was the most brilliant fireball that I have ever seen!" reports Angela McClain, who sends this picture from Faith Ranch in Jewett, Ohio:

This image is from www.spaceweather.com As well as some of the reports.
"The entire landscape lit up," she continues. "I spun around and there it was, a huge, bright green light, streaking across the sky. Even when it was gone, there was still a bright line in the sky about 20 seconds later. We were all stunned."

"This was a very bright event," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "Flares saturated our meteor cameras, and made determination of the end point (the terminus of the fireball's flight through the atmosphere) virtually impossible. Judging from the brightness, we are dealing with a meter class object."

Data from multiple cameras shows that the meteoroid hit Earth's atmosphere traveling 51 km/s (114,000 mph) and passed almost directly over Columbus, Ohio. According to the American Meteor Society, the fireball was visible from at least 14 US states!!

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So if you were outside late on the 27th of September 2013, Well, now you know what you saw! :)

Have a great day bloggers!