Winter Storm Watch upgraded to Winter Storm Warning

The Winter Storm Watch issued yesterday by the National Weather Service has been upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning:

URGENT – WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
236 PM EST MON JAN 31 2011

…POWERFUL WINTER STORM TO AFFECT THE REGION…

.AN INTENSE WINTER STORM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA IN TWO PHASES BEGINNING TONIGHT AND ENDING WEDNESDAY EVENING WITH A LULL TUESDAY MORNING. SNOW WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA EARLY THIS EVENING WITH A MIX OF SLEET AND SNOW EXPECTED MAINLY SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 24. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS TONIGHT WILL BE GENERALLY 2 TO 5 INCHES…WITH LESSER AMOUNTS WHERE THE MIX OCCURS AND IN THE FAR NORTH. WINDS WILL INCREASE EARLY TUESDAY WITH BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW…ALTHOUGH THERE WILL LIKELY BE A LULL WITH THE FALLING SNOW TUESDAY MORNING AND EARLY TUESDAY AFTERNOON.

HEAVY SNOW WITH SIGNIFICANT BLOWING AND DRIFTING IS LIKELY BY LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON. VERY HEAVY SNOW WILL CONTINUE TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING…ENDING BY WEDNESDAY EVENING. SNOWFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR ARE EXPECTED TUESDAY NIGHT. SNOW MAY MIX WITH OR CHANGE TO SLEET OR FREEZING RAIN SOUTH OF ROUTE 24…WITH SIGNIFICANT ICING POSSIBLE. ICE ACCUMULATIONS WILL LIKELY BE BETWEEN ONE QUARTER AND ONE HALF INCH…WITH HIGHEST ICING POTENTIAL NEAR AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM MARION INDIANA TO OTTAWA OHIO. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF UP TO 18 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS SYSTEM…WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS OF OVER 20 INCHES NOT OUT OF THE REALM OF POSSIBILITY. THESE HIGHER
SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WILL BE ACROSS FAR NORTHERN INDIANA AND SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN.

SUSTAINED WINDS OF 15 TO 30 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS…WOULD SUPPORT WIDESPREAD BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW…WITH DRIFTS POTENTIALLY REACHING SEVERAL FEET IN SOME LOCATIONS. BLIZZARD TO NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE IN MANY AREAS…ESPECIALLY ACROSS FAR NORTHWESTERN INDIANA AND SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN. VISIBILITIES COULD BE DOWN TO ZERO AT TIMES TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING. TRAVEL WILL LIKELY BE DIFFICULT TO IMPOSSIBLE IN MANY AREAS…WITH ROAD CLOSURES POSSIBLE.

LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA FOR UPDATES ON THIS DANGEROUS WINTER STORM…ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE PLANNING TRAVEL IN THE REGION.

[…] …WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 7 PM EST WEDNESDAY…

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTHERN INDIANA HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR A MIX OF SNOW…SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 7 PM EST WEDNESDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

* TIMING…SNOW WILL DEVELOP TONIGHT. AFTER A SHORT LULL IN THE SNOW TUESDAY MORNING…THE SNOW WILL EXPAND IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY LATE TUESDAY. SNOW MAY MIX WITH OR CHANGE TO FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET LATE TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING. SNOW WILL CONTINUE INTO WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON…ENDING WEDNESDAY EVENING.

* MAIN IMPACT…2 TO 5 INCHES OF SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE BY TUESDAY MORNING. ADDITIONAL HEAVY SNOW AND SLEET ACCUMULATIONS OF 4 TO 8 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY. IF PRECIPITATION CHANGES TO FREEZING RAIN OR SLEET…MUCH LOWER SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WOULD BE EXPECTED BUT SIGNIFICANT ICING WOULD BE POSSIBLE WITH EXTENDED POWER OUTAGES. ONE QUARTER TO ONE HALF INCH OF ICE ACCUMULATION IS POSSIBLE.

* OTHER IMPACTS…SUSTAINED WINDS OF 15 TO 30 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS WOULD SUPPORT WIDESPREAD BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW… HIGHLY IMPACTING TRAVEL. THESE WINDS WOULD ALSO CAUSE TREE LIMBS AND POWER LINES TO FALL IF SIGNIFICANT ICING OCCURS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW… SLEET…AND ICE ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.

And also the Hazardous Weather Outlook:

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
453 AM EST MON JAN 31 2011

[…] THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST OHIO AND NORTHERN INDIANA.

.DAY ONE…TODAY AND TONIGHT

SNOW AND SLEET IS EXPECTED TONIGHT…WITH ACCUMULATIONS OF UP TO 5 INCHES POSSIBLE. A WINTER STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN…TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

A STRONG WINTER STORM SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO IMPACT THE REGION FROM LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON INTO WEDNESDAY. HEAVY ACCUMULATING SNOW…STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND MIXED PRECIPITATION WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. SIGNIFICANT ICING WILL BE POSSIBLE. DANGEROUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS WOULD BE EXPECTED WITH SIGNIFICANT BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW POSSIBLE. A WINTER STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT.

SOME UNCERTAINTY STILL EXISTS REGARDING THE EXACT STORM TRACK AND INTENSITY. A SMALL SHIFT IN STORM TRACK WILL HAVE A LARGE IMPACT ON WHERE THE HEAVIEST SNOW AND MOST DANGEROUS CONDITIONS WILL EXIST. LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA FOR LATER UPDATES ON THIS SITUATION.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT…

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES…OR CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT WEATHER.GOV/IWX

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