Golden Snow Shovel Contest Gets Underway with Cat Tracks in the Forecast

It is that time of year you have all been waiting for! The Golden Snow Shovel Contest. All you need to do is click on the link below and guess when you think our first inch of snow will be here at WLFI. I have my Golden Snow Shovel ready to plow your driveway. I am training for it! Now you can venture a guess up until 24 hours before the first inch of snow but the acutual winner I pick will be the one who sent in the entry or forecast first. So the person that sends it in early would still have an advantage. Just get it right and you have no worries about getting out of your driveway or eating well the rest of the year. I want to thank Mad Mushroom Pizza once again this year. The details are below and once again you just have to click on the link labeled "here" below. Fill out the e-mail and send it to Kurt who will tally all the votes and then we will look at the date of who sent in the forecast the earliest if you were right. Thanks for all your support and good forecasting! You also will receive the special golden shovel I shovel you out with and I can tell you it is a gem!

“Mike’s Golden Shovel Contest”

Click HERE to enter: Include your name, date you think it will snow, address, and phone. (1) There are three ways to enter: fill out an entry form in store at Mad Mushroom Pizza locations, go to wlfi.com (contest page), or mail a postcard to WLFI, Attention: GOLDEN SHOVEL CONTEST, 2605 YEAGER ROAD, WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA 47906. Deadline for this contest will be 24 hours prior to the official first snowfall. All entries with the correct date will be placed in a drawing that will take place after the first measurable one inch of snowfall (official measurement will be deemed by Mike Prangley at WLFI). (2) There is no purchase necessary to win. The grand prize winner will receive 1 large (2) topping pizza per week for one year from Mad Mushroom Pizza valued at approximately $535.00, News Channel 18 Meteorologist Mike Prangley will com out to winner’s residence with video crew and shovel sidewalk with Mike’s ‘Golden Shovel’. (3) Complete rules are available at stores and on wlfi.com. Contest is open to all residents of the state of Indiana eighteen (18) years of age or older. Employees of Mad Mushroom Pizza, and LIN Television d.b.a. WLFI-TV, other participating retailers and their advertising agencies, consultants, franchisees, suppliers, subsidiaries, and family members of any of the above are not eligible to enter or win. (4) The grand prize is being provided solely by Mad Mushroom Pizza. Winner will be required to sign an agreement that absolves LIN Television, and other participating sponsors from any and all responsibility regarding the awarded prize. Winner is also responsible for any and all income and other taxes and fees that may arise by virtue of receiving prizes, including but not limited to sales and other taxes. (5) Winner will be required to sign an affidavit of eligibility and release of liability. By entering, contestants consent to the use of their name, likeness, and/or biographical information for advertising and promotional consideration. Decisions made by the WLFI-TV judges concerning any and all matters with respect to this promotion shall be final. Contest void where prohibited, penalized, or restricted by law. Failure to comply with any of the rules will result in forfeiture of prize. Odds of winning are determined by the number of eligible entries. For the name of winner, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to “WINNER’S LIST” WLFI-TV, 2605 YEAGER ROAD, WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA 47906.

Now speaking of snow we do have some of it in our weekend forecast. But you will not need the shovels or snow boots!

Only a few brief sprinkles or flurries will fall on this Friday evening so the good news is we should stay mainly dry for the football games. Wear the layers as wind chills will be in the 30s with a gusty southwest wind at 11 to 22 mph. By Saturday night and Sunday we will have a re-inforcing shot of cold air with a trough of low pressure moving through. This will actually have a little more lift with it and could bring some "cat tracks" or a dusting of snow to the northern tier of our area. You can see the snow map above highlights areas of Newton, Jasper, Pulaski, and Fulton Counties. White County could also see a brief dusting on the grassy surfaces as you wake up on Sunday. Otherwise it is Brrrrrrrrrr....time to wear the layers and we do have a hot chocoloate advisory. I will be back here on the blog to tell you how long this pattern will last and make sure to tune in tonight at 11 to stay warm and watch some area football that is just heating up!

Rain & Wind Arrives But No Severe Weather Expected

Good to check in with you and it is nice to be tracking our first significant rain on Live Doppler 18 since October 24th. The rain is right on schedule and it looks like by later this evening most of us will be able to squeeze out about a quarter of an inch of rain. Wind gusts will stay in the 30 to 40 mph range and we could still have a rumble or two of thunder. Lightning tracker has been very quiet as you see above and there have been no weather warnings. The latest lightning scans as of 3:45 has absolutely no lightning now being reported across all of Illinois and Indiana. Make sure to check out our new lightning tracker on wlfi.com. Based on the latest model data our severe weather threat remains low. Now get ready for a wild ride that could include some cat tracks of snow in Indiana by late tomorrow night. We do need to cool things down because our Golden Snow Shovel contest is just about ready to be launched. I will have details on this and much more tonight!

Storm Fitzgerald Steams Our Way With Wind & Rain

It has been a beautiful autumn when it comes to our weather but as all of us Hoosiers know it can go from nasty to nice in a hurry. It is one of life's realities of living in the Midwest and we have a big reality check on the way. We have named our fourth major autumn weather system to impact the Lafayette viewing area Fitzgerald after the famous Edmund Fitzgerald iron ore ship that sunk in a huge storm on Lake Superior back on November 10, 1975. The song you clicked on above is certainly one of my favorites. It is a fitting name since that infamous weather anniversary is coming up in a few days. I will never forget overlooking that beautiful lake for nearly 2 years after marrying Julie. The best things in life are free! We had each other and free heating in a very small apartment in Duluth. But that is all I needed. To me it was like living in a fairy tale in a distant place far, far away from everybody and I was in a castle with a princess. The scenery was breath-taking and I am not just talking about Julie. We had a front row seat to one of the world's most beautiful lakes and the majestic iron ore ships that sailed in and out of port. Those ships look invincible and effortlessly cruise across a lake that is rougher than many places in the Atlantic Ocean. I will never forget the fog horns that would awake us out of a deep sleep sometimes at 2 a.m. The weather was surreal and it seemed like that lake whipped up a new storm every 36 hours. Wind gusts of 50 mph were quite common in the downtown area on the hill where we lived that overlooked the mighty Superior. Ah, the memories! Now today our autumn storm Fitzgerald will have plenty of rain and wind. Gusts could easily reach 35 mph this afternoon outside of thunderstorms. We were certainly due. I cannot rule out a wind gust of 50 mph if we can get some thunderstorms to pop. Also be on the outlook for pea-size hail. Indiana weather can whip up some wild weather in a hurry just like Lake Superior.

I think we are ready for a new Hoosier Proverb to help keep up with this crazy November weather at least for this year!

"November flowers bring rain showers and cloud towers and 3 seasons all within a few hours."

This means to be ready for thunderstorms by late today and this evening along with crashing temperatures! You see Kandy in Chalmers with her famous flowering fern. It is the bloom after the freeze as she likes to say. She protected it from the hard freeze last week and it is thriving.You are right, something has to give in this weather pattern and even though we have not set any record high temperatures so far this month a record has fallen by the wayside or in fact smashed. As of yesterday we have set a record for the most 70 degree days in a row in the month of November. Not even 1964 can touch this one and today we will add another one to the record-setting warm streak.


The plants are not the only things confused. It has been so warm that morel mushrooms think it is Spring. That was a short winter! Check out the morel mushroom that was spotted in Logansport by Brian Graves. Unfortunately it may be the last of our flowering plants for quite some time and for you mushroom hunters I think it is safe to say today is your last day. But remember no trespassing! As of last night Fitzgerald was causing plenty of severe weather as our Spring weather is fighting off autumn and winter weather which is always a losing battle this time of year. Look at all those dots as we had over 7 dozen reports of severe weather that included winds of over 70 mph and 5 tornado warnings.

As this powerful front moves our way I will have updates as needed on the air and here on the blog. At least most of today will still be warm and rain-free. Be safe and Happy Birthday to our chief weather blogger Justin New. Thanks for all you do Justin and I know I am not the only one thankful for all your great weather observations and reports on a daily basis. Nature I am sure will come through with some fun weather for you to track today. I better get some rest and it will be hard to get that song out of my head now! LOL

Hazy Dog Days of November Not Done With Us Just Yet!

Yes, the dog days usually run from July 3rd through August 11th and they are named after the dog star you find in the sky before sunrise during the summer months. Most of us think of those hot and sultry days when we hear the term "dog days". The dog days get their nickname from a usually quiet time of year with very few frontal passages in the Midwest. This allows haze, heat, and humidity to really build up in the atmosphere. Now even though it is November we have had plenty of warm weather, haze, and even some humidity starting to increase across the land of the Wabash. This is nature's autumn version of the "dog days". It is hard to believe that is has nearly been two weeks since Storm Stepanie hit the area with a good drenching of rain. But not if you looked at the sky yesterday. You can tell we had reduced visibilities due to haze in the picture above. Check out the not so clear Purdue Bell Tower on the far left and the American flag flying proudly on election day. We had a high of 73 in Lafayette so we did in fact have our warmest Presidential election day since 1964 as forecasted. Great job to everybody that got out and voted! We were all winners because we played an active part in making our democracy once again a shining example for people all over the world.

Last night we had a scintillating sunset thanks to that haze causing the sunlight to go through more of the atmosphere before reaching our eyes allowing us to enjoy a brilliant and colorful display. Since we have not had any big storm systems since October 24th the dust particles from the farmers tilling the fields, pollutants, and even microscopic water droplets have really built up. We have been tracking more bugs than raindrops as you can see above. So our new Hoosier weather proverb is that red skies and bugs at night will bring a sailor's and a Hoosier delight and that is exactly what we have on our Wednesday. I will be back to tell you which records we did set today and the latest on a raging blizzard that is expected to break out on the Plains and how it will impact our weather! We are also watching for possible strong storms and isolated damaging wind gusts tomorrow in portions of Indiana and Illinois. One thing is for sure and that is change is on the way. Look at those huge 24 hour temperature falls out west. The BIG SHOE is about to drop.

I will have your weather timeline that will be changing all of our lives in a big way and much more coming up here on the blog including some more reports of morel mushrooms popping up in this Spring weather across the area.

A couple more notes: The Golden Snow Shovel contest is about to start. Our web-master Gordon tells me hopefully tomorrow! More details on the way...Also, we will name this next weather-maker bringing us plenty of wind and rain tomorrow evening. How about Fitzgerald? Since we are coming up on the anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald due to a huge wind storm on Lake Superior. Let me know what you think. Now I need to really buckle down and get to work on the models and maps. Have a great evening. Oh yes, and thank you Dusty for making our body bump class do extra crunches between all of our exercises. That is ouch....I mean okay! This will help me out come January when I run by the Disney castle.

It's America's Day! The Weather & Redskins Outcome Favors the Democrats

Now I am doing my best today to be positive after the huge whipping the Steelers put on the Washington Redskins at home last night. As most of our bloggers now by now, I was born and raised in Washington, D.C. so I will always be a Redskin fan. Now I should be okay eventually. This should not be too hard with great forecast you see above! The Redskins are still doing way better than anybody predicted this year and last night was a good learning experience if you want to call it that. Speaking of predictions, the Redskins have predicted 17 of the past 18 Presidential Elections correctly dating back to 1936! If the Redskins lose their home game closest to the election the incumbent party loses the election. If the Redskins win the incumbent party stays in power. Well, it looks like Obama has the edge not only in the national polls but on the football field. We will see if this incredible stat becomes 18 of 19 today. No matter who you vote for you can be proud of living in a country where your vote really does matter and you have a voice in government.

You see former Indianapolis Colt Marcus Washington making a big hit on a Steeler. Courtesy of extremeskins.com

The weather has also been known to impact Presidential elections. Most of the country today will have nice weather and I would say much nicer than average weather is in place for at least 40 of the 48 contiguous states. All the real cold, stormy weather is locked up well to the north in Canada and Alaska. We have a couple of storms at the corners but in between most of the country is living up to its sea to shining sea name.


The rule of thumb is the Republicans usually pray for rain. Republicans usually have a better turnout in elections. Democrats pray for sunshine so many of the fringe voters get out and vote. Based on the map above you have to say advantage Democrats. I have read many intriguing books on the subject and apparently unusually nice weather with Indian Summer conditions across much of the Midwest helped to propel John F. Kennedy to power. He only won by about 100,000 popular votes and the spectacular weather enabled more folks to get out and vote. This favors the majority party and back in 1960 this may have been more than enough for a Kennedy victory. Nowadays we have early bird voting sweeping the country and early data indicates this would also favor more of the fringe voters to come out and vote giving yet another advantage to Democrats. So right now as all the weather and sports indicators go McCain has a huge uphill battle. But he is known as the Maverick and we will see if it will be enough. Our staff is ready to give you great election coverage tonight and make sure to tune in for the latest to see how it all works out.

I will also have more tonight on our severe weather risk later this week. Let us all keep our guard up as the National Weather Service in North Webster reminds us. Big storms do happen in November. Check it out.


November 10, 2002

4 dead

26 injured

F4 tornado damage at Van Wert, Ohio (winds 207 to 260 mph). Tornado touched down near Willshire and moved northeast for 53 miles to central Henry County. The tornado lifted near Malinta, Ohio. F4 damage occurred on Lincoln Highway west of Van Wert. F4 damage also occurred at the intersection of Dull-Robinson and Zook roads. There was one fatality at this location, as well as an injury. A couple was in the upstairs portion of their home. As the tornado approached the husband attempted to cover his wheelchair-bound wife. As he was doing this the home was hit, and a projectile struck the husband in the back of his head. His wife was sent to the hospital in critical condition. Another casualty occurred when the tornado swept a car off the road near Van Wert's Twin Cinemas, killing the driver inside.

After leaving the city of Van Wert, the tornado was between F3 and F4 strength through the remainder of Van Wert County. The tornado maintained F3 strength through Paulding County and extreme northwest Putnam County. Two more fatalities took place near Continental, Ohio, when the tornado destroyed a mobile home. The twister then began to weaken, becoming F0 in strength across Henry County.

F1 tornado damage at Hartford City, Indiana (Blackford County) (winds 73 to 112 mph). The tornado touched down two miles southwest of Hartford City on Angling Road and headed northeast, through the north side of town, to three miles northeast of Hartford City. The continuous track was five miles long. There was evidence that this tornado may have briefly touched down several times from northeast of Hartford City to east of Montpelier.

F0 tornado damage near Petroleum, Indiana (Wells County) (winds 40 to 72 mph). This damage was discovered during the aerial survey. This was a brief touchdown with minimal damage.

F3 tornado damage near Berne, Indiana (Adams County) (winds 158 to 206 mph). Touched down two miles northeast of Berne and headed northeast. Lifted at the state line near Salem. Path length 5 miles.

---

Coincidentally, the last tornado to produce F4 damage in the Northern Indiana NWS office's area of responsibility occurred in Van Wert County, on February 18, 1992.

Tune in tonight for much more. While I am not expecting tornadoes at this time we all need to have that plan B ready to go. I will see you soon. Thanks for reading!

Warmest Election Day on the Way Since LBJ Won in 1964!

It really is autumn and my daughter Megan reminds us that there are only 51 days until Christmas above. Megan went to a birthday party in Wisconsin where Grandma got her a pink Christmas tree. As I Dad of three girls I will inevitably see a Pink Christmas and a White Christmas this year! That is fine as long as I get some snow. Thanksgiving is less than four weeks away and while we are at it and our big countdown to Winter officially begins on December 21st at 7:04 a.m. It will be here before we know it. This is a good reminder because our weather watcher highs went through the roof today as you see below. Our Renaissance camera captured an awe-inspiring sunset which was a fitting end to a picture-perfect day.

I am not sure who is going to win the election but weatherwise I can tell you we will all win with our warmest election day since 1964! In 1964 we had a high temperature of 75. Tomorrow we could see highs top out in the lower to middle 70s. The record high is 78 set back in 2003. The last four elections have had an average high of 51 degrees which is closer to normal but this year it will be about 20 degrees warmer. This is amazing. This is also a far cry from the snow flurries that fell on election day in 1976 with a high of only 41. So this time of year is a lot like my kids big bags of Halloween candy. You never know what you are going to get. This year you can take some of that candy outside and enjoy it. I had to help Lauren carry her big bag of candy home and nature is also providing plenty of treats and then some for this time of year. We are tracking possible record-breaking temperatures from Tuesday through Thursday.

This is what I like to call Jeff Smith weather. Jeff of course is our anchor at Noon, 5, and 6. Jeff loves unusually warm weather and he sent in this picture as a nice back drop to our records we are watching closely. Jeff has enjoyed every bit of our pleasant autumn this year and wants it to continue throughout the winter. I told him to just enjoy it while he can. When will Jeff's reality check come? This honeymoon from real November weather will end by late this week so get out and soak up all the sunshine you can. I am heading into work and will check back with you. A couple things we will look more closely on the news tonight and here on the blog tomorrow will be the chances of some stronger storms by Thursday and Friday.


Thunderstorms? Yes, we may be in a risk area by later Thursday and Friday for severe weather. It has been a little too quiet this autumn. So much for nature's treat. Like my daughter's Halloween candy you have to remember nature gives you a wide variety of weather this time of year. I know many of you would rather just have the variety of Kit Kats, M&M's, and 3 Musketeers that Kathy Williams was handing out on Halloween above but variety is the spice of life, especially in Indiana. Although nature may take it a bit far sometimes. I still cannot rule out a few spits of snow in extreme northern Indiana this weekend but for now I have taken out our snow flurry chances here at home, so that is a positive for many. Those that want lots of cold and snow you have to root for this weather too! The warmer we are now the colder we will be later in November and December. Nature is like a rubber band and the farther you stretch it away from its normals the bigger its impact when it snaps back. Is this why the squirrels are going nuts in my neighborhood and across much of Greater Lafayette? We will have an Earl the Squirrel update here on the blog this week. Send in squirrel pictures along with those cloud pictures. We need to stay ahead of nature in more than one way in this state! Have a great day.

You Can Get Out the Hammocks for the Extra Hour of Sleep

Here is Asa Johnson who is only 8 months old. Catherine her Mom really captured what a great Halloween and pattern we are in. Usually we heat up pumpkin pie to stay warm this time of year but this year the babies have got out the pumpkin shorts. This weekend will even be a nice time to go fill up on some pumpkin custard. Yummy!

You see yesterday's high temperatures that made it into the 70s. Not even Jacksonville, Florida was this warm. They only had a high of 69! I will make sure to send Mom and Dad some warmer weather. This much warmer than normal pattern should stick around. The graphic above shows no cold air in sight. Today we just have a weak front moving south that could chop just a few degrees off of our highs. But it will still be about 10 degrees above average so enjoy and make sure to boiler up!

If you are heading to the Purdue game today you can leave the blankets you normally bring to games at home. Now usually sunburns do not take place this time of year but I would still recommend wearing some sunblock with plenty of sunshine and it will be comfortable as well with highs back in the 60s. The hats and layers that usually cover our skin are not needed today, so I want to make sure you do not get a surprise sunburn. Speaking of surprises, I think the black and gold will pull off an upset. Go Boilers!

If this is not enough, tonight is also one of my favorite nights. We all get an extra hour of sleep and with all of the weather excitement this week going from snow flurries to shorts weather I will need a little extra shut eye. I have gotten quite the workout. Make sure to fall back or turn those clocks back an hour before you go to sleep and change the batteries in your smoke detectors. The great part is you can catch up on rest by getting out the hammocks. A nap outside this time of year is a double bonus. I think we could even be close to 70 again on Sunday thanks to a warm front moving through the area by early Sunday. It could touch off an isolated shower or thunderstorm mainly north and west of Lafayette but most of us should remain dry and any rain will be brief. That is right a thunderstorm is possible. What a pattern. The highest chance of rain will be late Saturday night and early Sunday as you see below. So if you have an early tee time Sunday I would not panic or cancel but I would also remember those lightning safety rules. Any lightning delays should be brief at best. We really are acting like Florida out there.


Happy golfing and even happy fishing! The only unhappy people this weekend may be those fisherman that have taken their boat out of the water. But I think they will survive and find a way to get out. I am going to go cut my lawn and do some more garage cleaning. Have a great weekend and thanks for reading. I am Mike Prangley and I approve this forecast! :)