Nature Shows Us Some Love for Valentine's Day!

Two years ago on Valentine's Day many folks spent it in igloos around the area. This year we can head to the Igloo for some frozen custard but we certainly will not have enough snow to build one!

Happy Valentine's Day weather wise and otherwise! My girls and wife are spoiling me as usual and do not worry I am taking good care of my wonderful family too! Nature will also show us some love today, especially if you like some sunshine. We will not be snowed in like we were two years ago with the blizzard as a weak disturbance along the jet stream moves out of the area today in a blink of an eye. Our weak weather-maker ran into too much dry air and did not wrap in any Gulf moisture up our way like classic snowstorms do here in Indiana. As a result, snow amounts quickly dwindled from 5 inches in west-central Iowa to closer to 2 inches by time it reached western and northern Illinois. Here at home there will be no surprises as the weakening trend continues. We will see our light snow showers come to an end early and get ready for some sunshine this afternoon. Snow accumulations will generally be from a dusting to a half-inch but it will quickly melt in afternoon sunshine and above freezing temperatures in the middle to upper 30s. Roads should be in good shape outside of a few slick spots early this morning. The good news about this being a weak storm and warmer temperatures is that it will allow our river levels to continue to drop fairly rapidly. If we were in a very cold pattern that tends to slow down the receding river levels but we should be warm enough and plenty dry through at least Tuesday to help ease all flooding concerns. Here are approximately river level forecasts and notice the Wabash River in Lafayette will be below flood stage by the middle of next week!


State road 43 should re-open today as water levels go below that critical 19 foot level and state road 225 near Battle Ground will likely be shut down until later Sunday so if you are traveling in that area or going to TJ's for your big Valentine's date make sure to open the door for your loved-one and have an alternate route.


I know there are a lot of warm weather lovers that read this blog too so I wanted to share some love with them too in the form of sandhill crane reports in the area over the past couple of days. They are usually one of our first signs of Spring here in Lafayette along with red-winged blackbirds and we have had a few reports of those as well. The good news is that I agree with our feathered friends. The worst part of our winter is in fact over. I still think one more snow of 4 or more inches is likely and we will have to watch out for an ice event as well before we really warm up nicely by the middle of March. Daylight saving time begins March 8th this year which is the earliest we have experienced this in Indiana since the early 1970s. So things are looking up with warmer days ahead becoming more common. You can also see meteorological spring and astronomical spring will be here before you know it! Speaking of Spring...it is well underway now in Florida with blooming azaleas and high pollen counts. I told my Mom I would wash her car for her if I lived closer. Now I wish I was flying in for the weekend like some other Hoosiers I know for the big NASCAR race.


Here is the latest Daytona 500 forecast. I think a stationary front draped across north-central Florida could make it interesting with a chance of a few rain showers. The good news is I think they will get the race as the bigger rains hold off until after 10 p.m. Yes, start those engines! Have a great Valentine's Weekend. Now I better go take care of my wife and daughters. Thanks for another great week here on the weather blog. We will have some weather reports from Australia, Turkey, and Siberia next week. Stay connected for that and much more! It was another week for the record books and one we will always remember. Here are a couple pictures that really sum it up!

Misty Russell sends us this picture from Stockwell which had estimated wind speeds at 75 mph or what you would see in a category one hurricane. That explains the shed that was tossed like a toy.

Rebecca Colby shows us the shingle damage that occurred in West Lafayette. Wind gusts were estimated near 60 to 65 mph in much of Tippecanoe County or what you could typically see from a weak EF-0 tornado.


Here is a huge evergreen down in Joyce Dresch's yard in West Lafayette. She is very thankful it missed her house.



Flying debris and yards that looked like war zones was common across the Lafayette area. Here is what was left of a trampoline that flew farther than a Peyton Manning pass, which was quite impressive. Two weather watchers I know had their weather stations blow away. Luckily, we do not have any more "AUNTIE EM ALERTS" out for this weekend with more good clean-up weather on the way.


While we did not have any confirmed tornadoes in the Lafayette area that was not the case in Munice. Here is a picture and a re-cap of what happened from the National Weather Service survey crew that checked out the damage.

Muncie Area Tornado Feb. 11

...Tornado Touches Down in Central Indiana...

A National Weather Service survey team has determined that a small tornado touched down on Wednesday February 11 near 3:40 PM. The tornado touched down in Delaware county...near county roads 300 East and 550 South...which is about 5 miles southeast of Muncie...near the town of Medford.

The tornado was rated an EF-1 with approximately 100 mph winds. The tornado was approximately 100 feet wide and was on the ground for about two tenths of a mile.

This tornado dislodged a barn roof and damaged the roof of a single family home across the street.

This tornado is the first tornado of the year in Central Indiana.

With all the wind we had here at home it created a lot of debris on land and in the water. Here is what it looked like on the South Fork of the Wildcat Creek. This big log jam caused enough flooding to close down portions of Haggerty Lane and 200 South. The crews did a great job removing those monster-sized trees.

Take Care and brace yourself for another week of weather in Indiana on the way!