Overview
Very cold air for the second half of April interacted with a low pressure system to bring accumulating snow to central Indiana. Record snowfall for April 20 was recorded at Indianapolis, and record cold temperatures followed the snow for April 21.Snow
Snow began falling in central Indiana during the afternoon hours and continued into the evening. The snow was briefly heavy at times, reducing visibility for travelers. Warm ground temperatures melted some of the snow as it fell, and warm road temperatures helped keep most roads clear. Below is a map of snowfall, followed by a listing of snowfall reports received.
Public Information Statement National Weather Service Indianapolis IN 1051 PM EDT Wed Apr 21 2021 ...SNOWFALL SUMMARY OF THE APRIL 20-21, 2021 RECORD EVENT... GREATEST REPORTS for each COUNTY, where 3.0 or greater... Location County Snowfall Source Kokomo 3 WSW Howard 5.0 in COOP Strawtown 2.2 E Hamilton 4.5 in CoCoRaHS Modoc Randolph 4.5 in CoCoRaHS Crawfordsville 6 SE Montgomery 4.4 in COOP Muncie 2 W Delaware 4.0 in Public Tipton 1.3 NW Tipton 3.8 in CoCoRaHS Thorntown 1.3 ENE Boone 3.7 in CoCoRaHS Country Club Hghts 2N Madison 3.7 in Trained spotter New Castle 3 SW Henry 3.5 in COOP Castleton 2 S Marion 3.5 in COOP Shelbyville 2 SSW Shelby 3.3 in Public Brownsburg 5.1 NNE Hendricks 3.1 in CoCoRaHS Burlington Carroll 3.0 in CoCoRaHS Frankfort Clinton 3.0 in Public Greensburg 6.0 SW Decatur 3.0 in CoCoRaHS Greenfield Hancock 3.0 in COOP Rushville Rush 3.0 in COOP TOTAL SNOWFALL REPORTS, by county... Location in Central Indiana Amount Time/Date Provider ...Bartholomew County... Taylorsville 0.8 SSW 2.5 in 0430 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Columbus 3.2 ENE 1.6 in 0830 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Flat Rock 1.2 SSW 1.0 in 0745 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Columbus 0.9 in 0700 AM 04/21 COOP ...Boone County... Thorntown 1.3 ENE 3.7 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Lebanon 6 W 3.5 in 0530 AM 04/21 COOP Pike 1.5 ESE 3.2 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Whitestown 3.1 E 3.0 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Thorntown 3.4 SW 1.8 in 0600 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Brown County... Beanblossom 1.4 NE 2.6 in 0600 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Needmore 1.7 SSW 1.6 in 1000 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Stone Head 3.2 ENE 1.2 in 0630 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Carroll County... Burlington 3.0 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Flora 2.1 in 0700 AM 04/21 COOP ...Clay County... Brazil 2.7 WNW 2.5 in 0851 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Clay City 1.5 in 0900 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Bowling Green 1 W 1.0 in 0700 AM 04/21 COOP Howesville 0.8 in 0547 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Clinton County... Frankfort 3.0 in 0902 PM 04/20 Public Kilmore 1.0 ENE 2.9 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Daviess County... Plainville 1.3 S 0.7 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Washington 1.5 NW 0.6 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Washington 3.3 SE T 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Decatur County... Greensburg 6.0 SW 3.0 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Delaware County... Muncie 2 W 4.0 in 0730 AM 04/21 Public Muncie 3.6 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Yorktown 1.1 NNW 3.4 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Macedonia 3.0 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Muncie 3.0 in 0700 AM 04/21 COOP ...Fountain County... Covington 1.5 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Greene County... Owensburg 1.0 N 1.3 in 0630 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Elliston-Bloomfield 0.9 in 0800 AM 04/21 COOP ...Hamilton County... Strawtown 2.2 E 4.5 in 0800 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Westfield 1.4 ESE 4.0 in 0800 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Noblesville 4.0 SE 3.7 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Fishers 3 NE 3.5 in 1136 PM 04/20 Trained spotter Fishers 1.0 WNW 3.2 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Carmel 1.4 NNE 3.2 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Fishers 3 NW 3.0 in 1035 PM 04/20 Amateur radio McCordsville 2.5 NE 3.1 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Fortville 1.5 NW 2.8 in 0800 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Carmel 1.5 W 2.0 in 0800 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Carmel 3 E 2.0 in 0800 AM 04/21 COOP ...Hancock County... Greenfield 3.0 in 0700 AM 04/21 COOP Wilkinson 4.1 W 2.0 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS New Palestine 1.2 NW 1.8 in 0800 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Hendricks County... Brownsburg 5.1 NNE 3.1 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Clayton 2.8 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Avon 1.4 WNW 2.6 in 0600 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Plainfile 1.1 W 1.9 in 0800 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Henry County... New Castle 3 SW 3.5 in 0700 AM 04/21 COOP New Castle 3.2 W 3.4 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Lewisville 1.8 ENE 1.6 in 0800 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Howard County... Kokomo 3 WSW 5.0 in 0700 AM 04/21 COOP Kokomo 4.0 WNW 2.6 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Kokomo 4.4 E 2.0 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Johnson County... Franklin 1 W 2.4 in 0700 AM 04/21 COOP Greenwood 3.8 W 2.0 in 0658 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Franklin 2.0 NW 1.2 in 0800 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Amity 1.8 W 1.0 in 0800 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Franklin WWTPlant 0.8 in 0700 AM 04/21 COOP Greenwood 4.9 SW 0.5 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Knox County... Vincennes 4 E 1.1 in 0700 AM 04/21 COOP ...Lawrence County... Oolitic Purdue Exp Farm 1.6 in 0700 AM 04/21 COOP Buddha 1.5 in 0730 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Harrodsburg 2.9 SSW 1.3 in 0830 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Madison County... Country Club Heights 2 N 3.7 in 1120 PM 04/20 Trained spotter Anderson 2.0 S 3.6 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Ingalls 3.0 WNW 3.5 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Marion County... Castleton 2 S 3.5 in 0700 AM 04/21 COOP McCordsville 1.3 W 2.6 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Clermont 0.9 N 2.5 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Southport 0.9 SE 2.5 in 0800 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Indianapolis Intl AP 1 SE 2.0 in 1035 PM 04/20 NWS WFO Indianapolis 5.8 NNE 2.0 in 0930 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Ravenswood 2.0 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Meridian Hills 1.7 in 0615 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Indianapolis 3.2 S 1.5 in 0800 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Meridian-Kessler 1.1 in 0900 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Martin County... Shoals 4.0 E 2.2 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Shoals 8 S 0.5 in 0700 AM 04/21 COOP ...Monroe County... Ellettsville 1.8 SSW 2.5 in 0800 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Ellettsville 2.7 NE 2.0 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Ellettsville 1.0 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Montgomery County... Crawfordsville 6 SE 4.4 in 0600 AM 04/21 COOP ...Morgan County... Mooresville 1.8 NE 2.1 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Brooklyn 2.0 in 0700 AM 04/21 NWS Employee Martinsville 2.3 SE 1.4 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Paragon 3.2 ENE T 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Owen County... Freeman 2.4 WSW 1.8 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Spencer 1.0 in 0700 AM 04/21 COOP Spencer 2.8 ENE 1.0 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Parke County... Bloomingdale 2.0 in 1135 AM 04/21 Trained spotter Rockville 3.6 ENE 1.2 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Putnam County... Cloverdale 3.5 W 2.6 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Greencastle 3.6 ESE 1.5 in 0800 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Randolph County... Modoc 4.5 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Lynn 4.0 in 1017 AM 04/21 Public Farmland 5 NNW 3.0 in 0700 AM 04/21 COOP Parker City 3.0 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Winchester 2.2 WSW 3.0 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Rush County... Rushville 3.0 in 0700 AM 04/21 COOP Homer 2.0 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Shelby County... Shelbyville 2 SSW 3.3 in 0705 AM 04/21 Public Morristown 2 SE 2.0 in 0700 AM 04/21 COOP Shelbyville 2.5 N 1.8 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Fairland 0.9 SSW 1.5 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Sullivan County... Graysville 5 WNW 0.9 in 0800 AM 04/21 COOP Farmersburg TV-2 0.7 in 1158 PM 04/20 COOP Hymera 0.2 in 0800 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Tippecanoe County... West Lafayette 1.0 NNW 2.9 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Lafayette 2.2 NE 2.7 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Lafayette 2.2 S 2.5 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS West Lafayette 1.4 in 0915 PM 04/20 Media West Lafayette 3 WNW 1.1 in 0730 PM 04/20 Public West Lafayette 6 NW 1.0 in 0800 AM 04/21 COOP ...Tipton County... Tipton 1.3 NW 3.8 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS Tipton 5 SW 3.1 in 0530 AM 04/21 COOP Windfall 2.2 WNW 2.5 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Vermillion County... Perrysville 4 WNW 2.5 in 0610 AM 04/21 COOP ...Vigo County... Riley 0.9 in 0700 AM 04/21 CoCoRaHS ...Warren... Pence 1 SW 1.3 in 0700 AM 04/21 COOP Observations are collected from a variety of sources with varying equipment and exposures. We thank all volunteer weather observers for their dedication. Not all data listed are considered official.
Indianapolis Records
Here are records set at the Indianapolis International Airport during this event:
Record snowfall for April 20: 2.0". The old record was a Trace set in 1953.
Record snow depth for April 21: 1". The old record was a Trace set in 1901.
Record low temperature for April 21: 26 degrees. The old record was 28 degrees set in 1907.
Other facts for Indianapolis:
This was the most snowfall so late in the season since snow fell in May, 1989.
This was the second highest snowfall seen on or after April 20. The most snowfall on record for on or after April 20 is 2.4", set on May 2, 1897.
Environment
A surface low moved along a front to the southeast of the area. Aloft, an upper trough was approaching from the west.
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| Figure 1: Surface Map & Radar for 5:00 PM EDT | Figure 2: 850mb Heights & Temp at 5:00 PM EDT | Figure 3: 850mb Frontogenesis at 5:00 PM EDT. (This provided forcing for heavier bands of snow) |
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