I received more final snowfall reports in my inbox from yesterday.  Oddly, Benton County picked up 2″ of snow Saturday morning, but I only had 0.1″ at my house in western Tippecanoe County.  It was a highly-convective snowfall event with some places getting lots & others very little.  From northern Miami to Whitley County, 4-7″ fell.  Those are nightmares to forecast.

Gusty Alberta Clipper is pivoting through with a brief burst of snow this morning. I had a trace in West Lafayette as it passed, but up to 0.5″ may accumulate in places east & northeast of Lafayette.  A band of moderate snow is moving through Howard & Miami counties with visibility down to 0.75 mile in places.  Visibility was 1.25 miles at the Howard County Airport (northeast of Kokomo) with snow at 11:35 a.m.

Some heavier snow showers are pivoting through Pulaski, towards Fulton & Cass right now with visibility likely down to 1 mile briefly.

This clipper will exit & some sun will appear today.  Gusty winds will gust to 40, perhaps even +40 mph at times with steady winds at 18-25 mph.

Wow…I didnt think that game was going to end well for the Boilermakers. When the game was on the line and the Boilers needed someone to step up, it was Robbie Hummel who saved the day. What a CLUTCH shot by the senior with 8 seconds left on the clock. Robbie deserved to hit a big shot like that after the rough stretch that he has been going through.

It wasn’t all Hummel today by any means, Terone Johnson came up with a big time performance with 14 points, while D.J. Byrd added 12 points. It was a game the Boilermakers HAD to have, a loss would have dropped Purdue to 4-5 in Big Ten play and would have meant they had lost 4 out of their last 5.

Lets hope Purdue stays hungry for another victory as they gear up for the Indiana Hoosiers a week from today. I think Purdue knocks off the Hoosiers on Keady Court by at least 5 points.

Follow me on twitter as RossBolinWLFI

-RB

The snowfall split into kind of two pieces overnight-this morning, but by & large the heavier totals were in our northern counties & northeastward & also northwestward.

2-3″ fell in central Illinois, 1-2″ in our far northern counties & 2-4″, even as much as 6.5″ fell northeast of the viewing area as a very heavy convective band set up over Whitely, Kosciusko & Allen counties overnight.

Around 1″ fell in our far southern counties, but the heart of the area from Lafayette to Logansport to Monticello received the lightest amounts.

Winds are gusting up to 45 mph with temperatures in the 30s.  The sun sure looks & feels good, though!

It still appears a quick clipper may bring less than 1″ of snow to the area tonight-early Sunday.

January 28, 1967

Damaging ice storm in the south, snow/sleet blizzard in the north……..glazing ice with strong winds downed numerous trees & power lines, while a driving sleet & snow blizzard hit Newton, Jasper, Pulaski counties.  This is the storm that brought the historic blizzard to Chicago with +20” of all snow.

7.9” of sleet & snow at Rensselaer added up to a whooping 3.23” of melted precipitation.  1.26” of precipitation fell at Crawfordsville with 1.5” of that being snow & sleet & the rest ice with some rain.  Of the 1.64” of precipitation at Frankfort, 1.5” was snow/sleet & the rest was ice.  At Fowler 2.22” of melted precipitation was only 4” of snow & sleet, while the rest was damaging ice.  1.77” of precipitation amounted 3.5” of snow & sleet with the rest a damaging icing event.  Of the 1.71” at Whitestown 1” was snow & sleet with the rest ice & even plain old cold rain.

This was the worst ice storm until the great ice storm of 1991.

January 29, 1963

Arctic blast drops temperature to -25° at Lafayette & Delphi.

January 30, 1944

January 1944 was a record-breaker with no measurable snowfall recorded, very little rainfall & plenty of bright, dry, warm days.  It was one of the warmest, driest & was a very rare snowless January on record.

4 consecutive days hit the lower to middle 60s in the viewing area 25-28^th, but on this day it still ran 48-55.  In the 60s stretch, Rochester peaked at 67, Rensselaer & Crawfordsville peaked at 64, West Lafayette, Kokomo, Whitestown 65, Wheatfield 63.

Silver & red maples were said to be budding late in the month with daffodils “way up”.

Only 0.36” of rainfall occurred in the month at Rensselaer & Kokomo, while 0.30” fell at Marion.  0.13” fell at Crawfordsville, while just 0.25” rainfall fell at West Lafayette for the month.

January 31, 2008

5-8” of snow fell in our northwestern counties after spring-like flooding, warmth & even storms in January 2008.  7” snow fell at Rensselaer, 5.5” Kentland.

Precipitation is beginning as a bit of rain/snow mix.  It is now snowing at WLFI & we have cooled or wet-bulbed from 39 to 33.

Snow will continue to overspread the area as any rain/snow mix goes to all snow will time.

The snow looks fairly wet, even into the overnight.  That said, there may be some blowing early in the morning as the wind cranks up, but it shouldn’t be too awfully bad.  The majority of the wind will arrive once the temperature reaches 31 mid-late morning with the gusts to 40 mph, 42 mph at times.

Snow continues to race eastward.  By 11 p.m. snow should be across the entire area as the mass overspreads us quickly.  Snow is currently just west of Peoria & Springfield, Illinois & is marching eastward.

Accumulation forecast remains unchanged.

January 27, 2012

I talked with Roger Blalock today, a longtime Purdue athletic administrator who is retiring at the end of the month after a lengthy and successful career with the Boilermakers.

I’ll always remember the first time I met Roger. It was during my first week at WLFI, October 2006, when I was covering the Boilers at the NCAA Volleyball Tournament. Roger made a very tall—-after all, he’s 6’7″—and most favorable first impression.

Boilermaker Nation is really going to miss Roger. He’s just a great guy and has worn many hats at Purdue, first as a basketball player for the Boilers in the late sixties, as an assistant basketball coach, assistant athletics director, associate athletics director, and compliance coordinator. Blalock also worked in Purdue’s Office of Admissions in many capacities, including a financial aid counselor.

The next time I see Roger Blalock in a bad mood will be the first time. He’s always ready with a hello, a smile, and always willing to engage in a very insightful and interesting conversation. It was great to see Blalock get such a nice ovation from the Mackey Arena faithful when Roger was honored at a recent Boilermakers men’s basketball game.

Enjoy retirement, Roger, you’ve earned it. And thanks for being such a class act.

Blog to you soon,

Mike

Area of snow is approaching………..10 p.m.-8 a.m. time frame still looks reasonable.

Current temperatures are 40-45 area-wide, but will cool to 32 with front & snowfall of clipper.  Eventually, they will drop to 25-30 overnight.

Period of snow will pass tonight-Saturday morning in the 10 p.m.-8 a.m. time frame, generally.  It will be rather breezy during the snow, but the bulk of the stronger winds with gusts of 40, perhaps 45 mph with steady winds at 20-25 mph will be after the snow stops.

I have beefed up the totals some & especially expanded that 1-2″ & even 2-3″ zone.  This is due to the moisture, lift in the SGZ (Snow Growth Zone) & changing snow ratios from 10:1 to more like 20:1 based on the very fluffy dendrites expected.

Nonetheless, there will be some blowing & drifting from the strong winds.

Highs will reach 32-37 Saturday, though, so melting will occur in the afternoon with sunshine appearing despite continued windy conditions.

It looks like the second clipper is going to get in here QUICKLY.  It should bring snow by Saturday night & end early Sunday.  More strong winds are likely Sunday with gusts to 40, perhaps 45 mph with steady winds at 20-25 mph.  During the snow, breezy conditions with 15-25 mph winds from the southwest & west are likely.  All this wind will blow & drift about what snow falls.

It does not look like as much snow as the first clipper, right now.  1″ or less will do for the entire viewing area.

A strong clipper with Wind Advisories is diving out of the northern Plains.  This will bring a period of snow 11 p.m.-4 a.m. & strong winds of 25-40 mph late Friday night-Saturday morning.  Blowing & drifting snow is likely with temperatures falling to 25-29.

Gusts to 40-45 mph are possible Saturday with highs in the lower to middle 30s.