Ryan Martin’s Indiana Ag Forecast for February 6, 2019

Rain moves through the state today and tomorrow. There may be a few slick spots this morning in far NW Indiana and perhaps north central Indiana, where lows last night broached freezing, but temps are quickly on the rise today. We should be well above normal statewide today, and above normal tomorrow too. Rain totals for the period will be .75”-2.5” with coverage at nearly 100%. These rains come from to distinct heavier waves, but we will see nearly constant threat of rain through the end of the day tomorrow. Cumulative rain totals through Friday morning are shown on the map at right. We are also leaving the door open this morning to some lingering moisture early Friday.

For the balance of Friday, we clear out and turn significantly colder. We should see the entire state below freezing for Friday, and the cold air lingers through the weekend. We should be partly sunny for at least Saturday, but clouds will be on the increase Sunday, with a chance of some scattered light snow late Sunday afternoon and evening. We expect a coating to 1 inch of snow, with coverage at 60% of the state. We stay cold next Monday but should be partly sunny again.

More tweaks to our forecast this morning around the weather system we have arriving next Tuesday, the 12^th. This system looks to be tracking SW to NE, so that means we can see action spreading north. We still look for rain only in the south initially, only up to about the US 50 area. North of there we see some light snow as we start off Tuesday. The rain/snow line moves north through the day, but generally does not get north of US 24. Through Tuesday we expect 2-4” from US 24 northward, and a coating to 2 inches from US 24 down to US 50. However, a second wave of action Tuesday night brings another 1”-3” to northwest and north central parts of the state. These snows will be wet snows, but still should accumulate. We are cloudy, windy and colder again for next Wednesday, and that may bring a few flurries. Daytime highs could be below freezing statewide again, and with the winds, we still have to keep low wind chills in mind.

The rest of our forecast is unchanged this morning For Valentine’s Day next Thursday, we start with some sun but clouds will be on the increase rather quickly. This gives way to snow overnight Thursday night into Friday, with a coating to 2” possible and 80% coverage. Then for the rest of the extended period, we have some rain or snow developing for Saturday the 16^th, liquid equivalent totals from .25”-1” over 80% of the state, and that precipitation lingers into early Sunday. Then Presidents Day (Monday the 18^th) we go back to snow with possible accumulations. We finish out the extended period with partly sunny skies and seasonally chilly temps.