Stock up on bread; winter is coming

Friday, November 17, 2017
Banner Graphic photo Snow was such a rare occurrence locally last winter that one car owner felt compelled to write in the white stuff.

We’re less than a week away from stuffing ourselves at Thanksgiving. Winter doesn’t officially arrive until Dec. 21.

But Sunday, Nov. 19 marks a yearly milestone that descends upon central Indiana.

According to the National Weather Service at Indianapolis, Nov. 19 marks the average date of the first measurable snowfall of the season in this area.

In many recent years, the Putnam County area hasn’t seen its first measurable snowfall until sometime after Christmas. But if you were around in 1989, you probably remember the earliest first measurable snowfall on record that occurred on Oct. 18 when a few inches of heavy wet snow settled on the area.

Overall, the month of November typically sees less than one inch of snowfall in central Indiana but that number jumps to 6.9 inches for the average December.

Central Indiana’s annual average yearly snowfall total is 25.9 with 8.6 inches falling in the average January, 6.5 inches during a normal February, 2.6 inches each March and just .02 inches for the typical April.

If that isn’t enough snow talk for you, here are a few more central Indiana fun snow facts from the National Weather Service.

Snowfall (in inches) records:

Maximum in 24 hours -- 12.5 on Feb. 24-25, 1965.

Maximum in a single storm -- 16.1 on Feb. 16-17, 1910.

Maximum in one month -- 30.6 in January 1978.

Maximum in one season -- 58.2 inches in 1981-82.

Maximum depth measured -- 20 inches on Jan. 26-28, 1978 (aka Blizzard of ‘78).

Snowfall dates to remember:

Average date of first measurable snowfall -- Nov. 19.

Average date of last measurable snowfall -- March 30.

Earliest date of first measurable snowfall -- Oct. 18, 1989.

Latest date of last measurable snowfall -- May 9, 1923.

Since 1948 ...

Day of the year which has received the most snow -- Feb. 25 with 40.8 inches.

Maximum snowfall in calendar day -- March 19, 1960 with 12.1 inches.

Day of year with the greatest average snow depth -- Jan. 31 with 1.7 inches on the ground.

Day(s) of year with most number of days with a trace of snow or greater: Jan. 9, 15 and 30 with 29 days.

Meanwhile, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association has released its U.S. Winter Outlook for 2017-18, suggesting that Indiana could experience a winter 40 percent more likely to be wetter than average with La Niña expected to play a role this season.

NOAA says Indiana has an equal chance at average temperatures with the northern part of the state experiencing colder temperatures and the southern part, warmer temperatures as winter carries on.

Last winter snow was well below normal throughout the winter, with less than 10 inches of snow across all of central Indiana through January and February. Indianapolis and most of central Indiana received less than four inches of snow after Jan. 1.

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