Arctic Blast Continues
A chilly Saturday morning!
Credit: Chicago Tribune
Wind Chills around the upper Midwest well below zero this morning with not much improvement expected through out the day.
Winds are coming out of the north as they wrap around an area of high pressure sitting over Nebraska.
With the air coming out of the north across Lake Michigan, the set up was just right for lake effect snow to occur in Northwest Indiana.
Credit: National Weather Service Chicago
From the National Weather Service in Chicago:
A strong cold front swept across region during the afternoon hours Friday with very cold air spilling into the region behind the front, ushered in by strong north winds. The very cold air moving over the unseasonably mild Lake Michigan waters proved to be an ideal set-up for the development of an intense lake effect snow band Friday evening into the wee hours of Saturday morning. The image below is a snap shot of the WSR-88D doppler radar picking up on the very intense lake effect snow band shortly after 11 PM Friday evening. The areas of dark blue and purple are where the radar is detecting extraordinarily heavy lake effect snow, with hourly accumulation rates nearing 4 inches per hour! In addition, it at this time that the coastal weather station at Burns Harbor reported a wind gust to 52 knots (60 mph). Numerous reports indicated that the combination of the extremely heavy snow and very strong winds were producing white out conditions with visibilities less than 10 feet reported!! The band was so intense that there was even thunder and lightning reported with the snow, much like what occurred with the Groundhog Day blizzard last year.
Credit:Â National Weather Service Chicago
These cold conditions are just in the midwest. Temperatures across the Eastern two thirds of the nation are below normal today.
