Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Northern Indiana
Issued by NWS Northern Indiana
Versions:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
044 FXUS63 KIWX 061156 AFDIWX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Northern Indiana 656 AM EST Sat Dec 6 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Highs in the 30s through Wednesday except briefly colder next Saturday with highs in the lower 20s. - Snow accumulations of 1-3 inches tonight into Sunday afternoon, highest totals near Lake Michigan. Limited impacts expected. - Snow mixed with rain at times through this upcoming week. Impacts should be limited. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 402 AM EST Sat Dec 6 2025 Southwest flow at the surface was ahead of a cold front that extended from PIA to ORD overnight. Kept a slight chance for light snow and light freezing drizzle into this morning. BUFKIT soundings support more of a freezing drizzle sounding given a relative warm cold layer (-5C). Surface reports and radar imagery show precipitation and returns mainly north of Highway 30. Weak cold air advection in the cloud layer with subsidence above will help continue to support a a building subsidence inversion. Two more reinforcing surges of cold air will bring returns of arctic air this weekend. Inversion heights should be limited for lake effect snow. However, system snow should reach the forecast area late Saturday night and taper to lake flurries Sunday afternoon. BUFKIT sounding favor 2-3" of snow mainly north of Highway 30 this weekend with less than an inch at Lima. The second surge of arctic air should arrive late Sunday. Wind chill temperatures are likely to fall below zero Sunday night and Monday night. Current thinking that these 2 nights will not need headlines, but can be handled with Special Weather Statements. Temperatures will try to make it close to normal Wednesday, but then fall again late this upcoming week with the next arctic surge. Highs by Saturday may not make it to 20 degrees. Dynamic Ensemble data appears to be too weak with the system snow this weekend, but indicates about 3" of snow is expected late this upcoming week with the next system. WPC Winter Weather Forecast does show a 10-30% chance of melted snow >=0.25 (water equivalent). && .AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z SUNDAY/... Issued at 648 AM EST Sat Dec 6 2025 Predominantly MVFR conditions expected at the terminals today into tonight, with IFR possible at mainly KSBN towards the end of the period. Ceilings between 1500-2500 have overspread northern Indiana this morning and will persist through the remainder of the period. There could be a few brief pockets of VFR (as seen over KGYY/KIGQ as of this writing). It`s possible we see a drop in visibility with some BR this morning as the cold front moves through (some of guidance had an hour of 4-5SM) however left out of the TAF for now given lower confidence. Otherwise, another system approaches tonight from west to east, which will bring light snow to mainly KSBN (KFWA towards 12z). Some of the guidance does bring KSBN down to 2SM for visibilities, but most of the guidance has around 4SM so went conservative for now. && .IWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IN...None. OH...None. MI...None. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory until 3 PM EST this afternoon for LMZ043. && $$ DISCUSSION...Skipper AVIATION...MCD