Celebrating our Country & A Happy 100th Birthday to Margaret Depp

I wanted to wish a special Happy Birthday to Margaret Depp who turned 100 years old this month. She is still very sharp and apparently a huge weather fan. She gives all of us a lot of hope and her age does not even begin to slow her down! I hope we are all still blogging when we turn 100, although by then I am sure it will be in a different form. Margaret still cleans and even does laundry by walking up and down the stairs. I could have used her help over the last several days with my kids either out of school or home from school. She even keeps a vegetable garden and drives. I think she looks terrific and it should make us all smile.


From all of us on the weather blog Margaret we wish you the best of birthdays. I looked over the weather records from 1909 and your year ranks 12th on our list of snowiest winters with just over 33 inches of snow. She was born in a colder, snowier cycle that tends to repeat every 30 years in Indiana. This includes the 1910s, 1940s, 1970s, and 2000s. I am sure she can tell you what goes around comes around when it comes to our Indiana weather. Snowfall has averaged between 20 and 25 inches since she was born with no discernible increase or decrease in average snowfall believe it or not. Today of course is inauguration day and she has was born when Teddy Roosevelt was president! Obama would be the 19th president to take office since she was born. She could not even vote when she was younger and now that has all changed. Hope is alive and well in America and Margaret could give you a thousand reasons why. Yes, anything in America is possible and it even includes turning 100! Happy Birthday Margaret!


We have lots of hope of in our weather forecast as well. This is usually our coldest week here in Lafayette but we are sitting pretty over the next few days! Our average temperatures will come out about a degree above average over the next four days or close to 12 degrees warmer than the past seven days. You can see on the synoptic map that our arctic air is being pushed out by a Pacific high pressure system. Last week we the big blue "H" came from the North Pole and we nicknamed it harsh. Now we can call the big blue "H" this week our friend because it will help warm us up above freezing on Thursday. We are waiting on a snowstorm to clear the east coast. Some parts of North Carolina could see more than six inches of snow with snowflakes flying as far south as Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Now that will give new meaning to those beautiful white, sandy beaches that I remember all so well. Washington, D.C. is just missing out on a big snowstorm today with Ocean City, Maryland in line for several inches of snow. The nation's capital will have a few rays of sun with highs of 32 degrees. I am glad it looks good for all the traveler's that are arriving from all over the country. It would have been a real mess if that low pressure tracked a little farther west.


Congratulations! I do think you have already made it through the coldest part of the winter literally and climatologically. We have an average high of 31 and an average low of 14. The good news is our average temperatures start rising on Friday. The sun is rising much higher in the sky and Spring is only two months from today! You can see the tulip I got for my wonderful wife is blooming without a problem. It is her favorite flower. I just have kept it well watered and let it soak up the stronger sunlight with great results.

Now how about the big snowstorm that will likely hit our area next week. I think we will have a couple chances with one big hit or accumulations of 6 inches or more with at least one of the storms. What we have had so far this winter is a dominant northwest flow with the jet stream and it has not allowed those classic low pressure systems from the south move north with moisture and collide with our cold air masses. When we have had some Gulf moisture work our way we have not had enough cold air in place and that is why we have had at least four ice events. Next week the pattern is much different and I do see both cold air and moisture working together for the first time this winter. Randy in Frankfort has already picked up 6 inches of nickel and dime snow so far in January, but a real snow could very well be on the way. Now timing and exact amounts will be very tough this far out but this evening I will still post preliminary amounts and possible timing every day and as we get closer I will fine-tune it for you. This way when the big elephant shows up in your backyard you will not be surprised. God bless America and all you bloggers!

Latest Long-Range Snowfall for Lafayette over the next 10 days: Average of 10 models comes out to 8.8"