379
fxus63 kiwx 161009
afdiwx
area forecast discussion
national weather service northern indiana
609 am edt mon mar 16 2026
.key messages...
- snow showers move through from west to east beginning this
morning.
- lake effect snow develops today and persists into tuesday
morning. paired with west wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph, travel
will become treacherous. a winter weather advisory is in
effect.
- very cold tuesday morning with wind chills near 0.
&&
.discussion...
issued at 253 am edt mon mar 16 2026
987mb low over northwest indiana early this morning lifts northeast
through time ushering in a blast of cold air as temperatures tumble
from the 50s and low-60s down to the 20s. remaining breezy behind
the cold front, but guidance has come in a little lower with
wind gusts today placing them in the 30-40 mph range. the
exception is the lake michigan coastline where gusts to 45 mph
remain possible (40-50% chance).
wind, paired with incoming snow, will result in areas of poor
travel conditions today. a large area of synoptic ("system") snow is
noted across northern il pivoting northeast. this seeps into our
area from west to east near sunrise bringing a period of snow
to all areas as it marches east through the day. by the
afternoon, northwest flow off the lake leads to robust lake
effect snow that continues into tuesday morning. multiple bands
are expected, some of which will extend well inland (even
outside of the advisory area). residence time beneath any of
these bands will result in quick accumulations over very narrow
areas. a winter weather advisory remains in effect for a number
of counties. regardless of how much snow falls, the combination
of snow and these wind gusts today will result in poor travel
conditions especially within the advisory area. blowing snow
will result in visibility near zero at times within the
advisory area. wind gusts fall closer to 20 mph before sunrise
tuesday.
high resolution guidance has increased snow totals slightly which is
not terribly surprising for lake effect snow. forecast soundings
depict deeper cloud depths (pushing 10k ft) which would improve
saturation and subsequent hydrometeors. the heaviest period of
snow appears to be from late this afternoon (impacting the
evening commute) through about midnight tuesday morning after
which point cloud depths and inversion heights gradually fall
toward 6k ft. snow tapers off by midday tuesday. instances of
totals greater than 6" are a very real possibility (~40-50%
chance on href guidance), especially in berrien and cass
counties.
a word about the cold these next couple of days. lows in the teens
monday night and tuesday night are some 15 degrees below normal
and the coldest lows since about february 24-26. wind chills
tuesday morning will be near 0, and near 10 on wednesday
morning.
attention then turns to a clipper system streaking through on
wednesday along the left exit region of 60-knot 500-mb jet. this jet
rides atop a soaring great basin ridge and actually has decent
pacific moisture advection. frontogenesis is rather shallow,
confined to 800-700mb and is removed from an elevated dgz which is
closer to 600-500mb and poorly saturated. we`ll monitor trends in
the guidance, but so far these ingredients point to an unimpressive
period of light snow falling during the daytime hours wednesday.
cold air is poised to shift east in the coming days as the
aformentioned ridge does the same. energetic northwest flow
still threatens to derail that warming, but deterministic models
are slowly narrowing the forecast envelop. look for a period of
dry conditions late-week and a gradual warming trend toward,
and eventually above, normal (47/29, normal high/low).
&&
.aviation /12z tafs through 12z tuesday/...
issued at 601 am edt mon mar 16 2026
surface low continues to lift north across southwest michigan
resulting in breezy conditions that will persist through most
of the taf period. narrow bands of snow have developed over
north- central indiana, but the main shield of snow is still
working its way through northeast il. this snow will reach ksbn
early in the taf period and eventually transition to lake effect
snow with high confidence in periods of lifr conditions. snow
persists into tuesday morning, likely wavering in and out of
ksbn.
how impactful the aformentioned synoptic snow field is to kfwa
is somewhat uncertain, but a period of mvfr snow appears easy to
achieve. of less certainty is the evolution of any lake effect
snow that stretches to kfwa. with such a strong wind filed,
odds are high high at least mvfr snow showers will reach the
terminal. could not confidently adjust the inherited prob30
lifr, so, will continue this for future consideration.
additionally, could see snow showers come and go just beyond
04z, but the inland extend of the les should wane as the night
progresses.
&&
.iwx watches/warnings/advisories...
in...winter weather advisory until 11 am edt /10 am cdt/ tuesday
for inz005-006-103-104-204.
oh...none.
mi...winter weather advisory until 11 am edt tuesday for miz078-079-
177-277.
marine...gale warning until 5 am edt tuesday for lmz043-046.
&&
$$
discussion...brown
aviation...brown