From Ice to Severe Thunderstorms

The ice storm on Friday night left about an 1/8th of an inch of ice coating everything. Sleet fell on top of that making for a hard pack of ice on roadways. The temperature on Saturday only reached 22 degrees and it was cloudy, so there was absolutely no melting. Back roads are still icy this afternoon, but softening up quite a bit as temperatures are up to 32 degrees at 1:47pm.
The next storm promises to bring the opposite side of the spectrum to the region with strong storms. The Storm Prediction Center has placed southwest Indiana in a moderate risk for sever storms while the rest of Indiana is in a slight risk for severe weather. The heaviest storms should enter the state late Sunday night into early Monday morning. Threats include strong winds, hail, and possible tornadoes.

Ice Storm

Today's winter storm has been the most significant storm so far this winter. After all, it's late January and we've only had 4 inches of snow this winter. In fact, this storm is the first storm of the season that has prompted the NWS to issue a winter storm warning. The counties shaded in pink are under the winter storm warning. The purple shaded counties are under a winter weather advisory.
The current storm has seen little if any snow in our area. Instead, we've seen freezing rain. So far, we've seen 0.14" of liquid precipitation. This has fallen as freezing rain and sleet. Temperatures at the surface are in the mid 20's. When the freezing rain began, it quickly coated all untreated roads with a layer of ice. As a result, the Franklin County Sheriff department issued a level 3 travel advisory which means all roads in the county are closed. A good idea as I watched a small pickup try to get up the hill in front of my house. The road was solid ice.

Total Precipitation 2011

Here are some interesting maps that depict the amount of precipitation that fell across the contiguous United States during 2011. The top map shows the total precipitation that fell. The bottom map shows what the normal yearly precipitation should be.

Locally, I measured 54.23 inches of precipitation at my station from January 1 through December 31, 2011. The official measuring site for Cincinnati, Ohio (which is across the river in Covington, Kentucky) was 73.28 inches. That was a record amount for the city. Records date back to 1872.

2011 Summary

From the NWS in Indianpolis

2011: A Year in Review

2011 was a year of extremes across central Indiana. Indianapolis received a little less than 50 inches of precipitation for the year, making it the wettest year since 2006 and the 17^th wettest year on record. A very wet start to the year was highlighted by above normal snowfall in January, a significant ice and sleet storm in February and a very wet and stormy spring that saw extensive river flooding and repeated bouts of severe weather across the region. It remained wet through late June across central Indiana, before a switch to hot and dry weather in July which continued for most of the rest of the summer. This included the driest July on record in Indianapolis when less than a half inch of rain fell. Many locations across the region received less than three inches of rainfall from the beginning of July through the middle of September, enabling drought conditions to develop across portions of central Indiana. Stormy and wetter than normal conditions returned in late September and would persist for much of the rest of the year.

The heat that arrived across the region in July and continued into September helped to make the summer the 5^th warmest on record in Indianapolis. Additionally, the average temperature of 82.0 degrees at Indianapolis in July marked the hottest month experienced in the Circle City since July 1936. Many locations reached 100 degrees on July 21, including at Indianapolis where the temperature made it to the century mark for the first time since 1988. The temperature made it to 100 degrees in Indianapolis again on September 3, the first time that had happened in September since 1954. The annual average temperature of 55.2 degrees made 2011 the 8^th warmest on record, and the warmest since 2007. Records began for Indianapolis in 1871.

61 tornadoes touched down in the state of Indiana in 2011, breaking the old record of 49 tornadoes from 1990. Most of these tornadoes occurred during the spring and early summer as several significant severe weather events impacted the state.

Cold Snap

An arctic front crossed the region on New Year's Day bringing strong gusty winds and some lake effect snow showers. Temperatures fell from through the day on January 1 to a low of 30 near 11pm. Temperatures continued to tumble through the night and did not get above 22 during the day today, January 2. Through the day today, some brief but impressive snow showers blew across the region leaving behind a dusting of snow. Skies have begun to clear this evening and the winds are subsiding which should make for a very cold night. Forecasts are calling for a low of 15 overnight, but I think we will be colder than that.

No Snow

December saw no measurable snow. I know there is a lot of winter left, but I'm not feeling very confident that this will be a snowy winter. Of course, even though the last few winters have seen plenty of snow, the snow came in very small doses of 2-3 inches at a time. Maybe this winter will see fewer snowstorms, but larger amounts of snow with each storm. One can only hope.

First Snow Fall

The first snowfall of the season occurred on Tuesday, November 29. The snow began around 4pm and continued until about 8pm. Total accumulation was 3 inches.