(INDYSTAR.COM) The monster winter storm that has been hammering the Midwest will take it a bit easier on Central Indiana, while dumping 10 to 20 inches of snow in the Great Lakes region.
Still, Central Indiana faces 2 to 3 inches, along with strong winds, low temperatures and visibility, and hazardous road conditions, according to the National Weather Service. Get the latest weather forecasts and real-time radar maps at IndyStar.com/weather.
Iowa and parts of Illinois and Wisconsin have been under a blizzard warning, and people had worried that the storm could head straight to Indiana. Instead, Central Indiana will be under a winter weather advisory from 1 p.m. to midnight today — not as bad but still hazardous, said Crystal Pettet, a weather service meteorologist.
“The storm track went a little further north than what it looked like earlier in the week,” she said. “Some areas to the north and west are getting hit a decent bit harder than we are here. It is still a very strong storm system; it’s just taking it a little easier on us in Indianapolis.”
The rain that soaked Indianapolis on Saturday was expected to turn into snow by this morning.
A light snow is expected to continue into late morning but will accumulate into the afternoon.
Along with the snow, Indiana can expect winds gusting at 30 miles per hour, Pettet said.
“We could see problems with drifting snow and reduction in visibility,” she said. “We could be looking at half a mile or quarter-mile or less of visibility when the wind picks up with the snow.”
Also, the wind chill today and Monday will be low. “It will feel like 10 to 15 degrees below zero Monday morning,” she said. “So it may not be as bad here as Iowa or Chicago, but it’s still not going to be a picnic here.”
The weather service is forecasting a high today of 27 degrees and a low tonight of 12, with a wind chill of 7 or 8 degrees below zero, she said. Monday’s high is expected to be 16 degrees.
Average temperatures this time of year are a high of 40 degrees and a low of 25.
Temperatures will remain cold throughout the week but will warm up slightly to 20 degrees Tuesday, the mid-20s Wednesday and around the freezing mark on Thursday and Friday, according to the weather service.
“It is colder than average, but it’s not unusual because it seems like every couple of years we have a stint like this in December where it’s colder than normal,” Pettet said.
So far, not counting today’s snowfall, 3.8 inches of snow have accumulated in Indianapolis this month. Typically, Indianapolis receives 1.6 inches of snow during this same period.
“Be very careful with traveling (this) afternoon and night because of the potential of snow drifting,” Pettet advised. “You could be driving and could see fairly well through the snow, and then you could have practically white-out conditions in no time.”
