It's Golden Snow Shovel Time in a Winter Wonderland

Bring on the snow! Here is what it looked like in Monticello last night after the first real snow of the season began. A special thanks to Lindy for showing us a dusting of snow which was just the prelude of what was to come.

Mike,

Here is a picture of the first real snow in Monticello, Lake Freeman, taken at 9:30 this evening.
Good call. Keep up the GREAT work as usual.

Thanks,
Lindy Karberg

Thank you Lindy! The last time you sent us a picture it was of a sailboat on Lake Freeman when we were having record warm autumn temperatures. We couldn't buy a cool breeze. Now it's snowing. That is what I love about our weather in Indiana. It is always changing and you get your fill of the changing seasons.

We should have our fill of snow with a winter wonderland developing here in Lafayette. As of very early here on Wednesday morning here are the expected total accumulations. I think on average most of us will have 2 to 4 inches of snow. We should have 1 to 3 inches as you wake up this morning with another inch possible this morning. This will be our heaviest snow since February 17th of this year when we had just under 4 inches. So we certainly are not used to driving in the snow. Allow extra time and tune into WLFI for any school delays or cancellations.

Even though the snow will let up by late morning do not let that fool you. Slippery roads will likely continue this afternoon with gusty winds. We will have sustained winds by noon of 10 to 20 mph with wind gusts near 30 mph out of the north-northeast. This means east-west roads could have problems with blowing and drifting snow. Temperatures will also drop into the middle 20s by late afternoon making the road salt less efficient. We all know here in Indiana a little snow and a lot of wind is a bad mix. A snow accumulation of 3 inches is more like a foot of snow when wind is involved, so be careful out there.

But here is the good news! We have got some sledding weather for the kids and it is golden snow shovel time for me! Last year the winner of our WLFI golden snow shovel contest was from Attica and I did not have to shovel snow until January 16th! There I am last year shoveling a very light coating of snow. This year I look forward to shoveling some real snow and doing it more than a month earlier. Jason Harper our winner was only one of three people that guessed the first snow would take place in January. He reaped the reward by keeping the snow shovel and getting a free year's worth of Mad Mushroom Pizza. Today I will make sure to take some pictures of me shoveling away. Make sure to send your pictures in and some snow stories so I can share them with everybody here on the weather blog. Have a great day and enjoy the winter wonderland.

Here are some preliminary snowfall totals as of 7 a.m. this morning:

Rensselaer 4"

Monticello 3.5"

Frankfort 3.5"

Lafayette 3.5"

WLFI 2.3"

Galveston 2.0"

A special thanks this morning to my wife that helped me shovel our driveway. She knows I have a lot of shoveling to do today! I will have your complete snowfall totals coming up tonight. Even though any additional snowfall will be less than an inch today I am concerned about blowing and drifting snow with wind gusts near 30 mph this afternoon. We will also have to be on guard for roads that will re-freeze tonight. Be safe and I will see you soon. The two hour delay for TSC schools means I am the lunch packer today. I think peanut butter and jelly sandwhich sounds great!