January 26-28 2009 Heavy Snow

News Headlines

20th Anniversary of December 22-23, 2004 Snow (Over 2 feet of snow)
Historical Christmas Weather for Indianapolis
Precipitation Observers Needed In Indiana, Particularly In Warren, Tipton, Fountain, Montgomery, Vermillion, Parke, and Putnam Counties

Radar / Satellite

Snowfall Tables

A large storm system brought snow at times from Monday January 26 through Wednesday January 28, dropping over a foot of snow across portions of Central Indiana. Much of the snow fell during the night of the 27th and morning of the 28th, when an area of low pressure moved from Tennessee through eastern Kentucky.

Below are 24 hour snowfall maps for January 27, 28, and 29, along with the snow depth at 7:00 AM January 29. Click any map to enlarge. A list of snowfall reports received from around Central Indiana can be found below.

For Indianapolis, the 12.5 inches of snow that fell during the storm produced the 6th largest snow storm for the city at the time. The last time a bigger snowstorm struck the Indianapolis International Airport was when12.8 inches fell in January 1996. A list of the top snow storms to strike Indianapolis can be found below. Here are some pictures taken at the National Weather Service Forecast Office (click any picture to enlarge):

Ice Totals:

0.25 to 0.50 inches of ice accumulated in far southern portions of Central Indiana, including Knox, Daviess, Martin, Lawrence, Jackson, and Jennings Counties. Lighter ice accumulations of 0.10 to 0.25 inches occurred farther north in southern portions of Sullivan, Greene, Monroe, Brown, Bartholomew, and Decatur Counties.

Radar and Satellite Images

The radar images below are for midnight, 2:00 AM, and 4:00 AM on January 28. Click any image to enlarge. A small size radar loop of images from the top of each hour from midnight to 5:00 AM is also available.

The snowcover across Indiana and nearby areas can be seen on these visible satellite images. Some clouds cover portions of southern Indiana and far northern Indiana, but most of the state is cloud free. Click an image for a larger version.

Visible Satellite January 30

Zoom of Visible Satellite Jan 30

Tables and Other Data:

The following are snow totals collected from across Central Indiana for the storm total. Many thanks to our local law enforcement, broadcast media partners, and to all of our extremely dedicated spotters, cooperative observers, and CoCoRaHS observers! Your timely and accurate reports of snowfall are very appreciated.

For all un-official observations from the CoCoRaHS network visit www.cocorahs.org

Snowfall Measurement	Time	Location	County	Source
16.3	Storm Total	4.0 WSW Gosport	Owen	CoCoRaHS Observer
13.2	Storm Total	3 S Paragon	Morgan	CoCoRaHS Observer
12.8	Storm Total	6.9 N Bloomington	Monroe	CoCoRaHS Observer
12.8	Storm Total	2.0ESE Muncie	Delaware	CoCoRaHS Observer
12.7	Storm Total	2 SE Brownsburg	Hendricks	CoCoRaHS Observer
12.7	Storm Total	2 ENE Knightstown	Henry	CoCoRaHS Observer
12.5	Storm Total	1S Castleton	Marion	Cooperative Observer
12.5	Storm Total	Indianapolis Int’l Airport	Marion	Official NWS Obs
12.5	Storm Total	0.7E Martinsville	Morgan	CoCoRaHS Observer
12.0	Storm Total	3.3 SW Nashville	Brown	CoCoRaHS Observer
12.0	Storm Total	1.3S Plainville	Daviess	CoCoRaHS Observer
12.0	Storm Total	6.5N Spencer	Owen	Trained Spotter
12.0	Storm Total	2NE Straughn	Henry	Amateur Radio
12.0	Storm Total	1.1W Plainfield	Hendricks	CoCoRaHS Observer
11.9	Storm Total	4.6 S Brownsburg	Hendricks	CoCoRaHS Observer
11.8	Storm Total	4 SSE New Castle	Henry	Cooperative Observer
11.7	Storm Total	4.5 NE Indianapolis	Marion	CoCoRaHS Observer
11.5	Storm Total	1 SE Vincennes	Knox	CoCoRaHS observer
11.5	Storm Total	5 SW Tipton	Tipton	Cooperative Observer
11.5	Storm Total	6.5SE Bedford	Lawrence	CoCoRaHS Observer
11.3	Storm Total	4.1 W Lawrence	Marion	CoCoRaHS Observer
11.3	Storm Total	0.5 NE Brooklyn	Morgan	NWS Employee
11.2	Storm Total	3 S Odon	Daviess	Broadcast Media
11.1	Storm Total	3.9 E Bloomington	Monroe	CoCoRaHS Observer
11.0	Storm Total	Winchester	Randolph	Dep't of Highways
11.0	Storm Total	3.8 SE Odon	Daviess	CoCoRaHS Observer
11.0	Storm Total	3.8 ENE Morristown	Rush	CoCoRaHS Observer
11.0	Storm Total	0.5 NE Fairland	Shelby	CoCoRaHS Observer
11.0	Storm Total	Freelandville	Knox	CoCoRaHS Observer
11.0	Storm Total	3 S Franklin	Johnson	CoCoRaHS Observer
11.0	Storm Total	4.4 W Atlanta	Tipton	CoCoRaHS Observer
10.7	Storm Total	0.8NE Avon	Hendricks	NWS Employee
10.6	Storm Total	4.8 N Indianapolis	Marion	CoCoRaHS Observer
10.6	Storm Total	0.9 ESE Carmel	Hamilton	CoCoRaHS Observer
10.5	Storm Total	6.5NW Bloomington	Monroe	CoCoRaHS Observer
10.5	Storm Total	Loogootee	Martin	Public
10.5	Storm Total	Medora	Jackson	Cooperative Observer
10.5	Storm Total	4 W Acton	Marion	Cooperative Observer
10.4	Storm Total	2.6 SW Washington	Daviess	CoCoRaHS Observer
10.3	Storm Total	Terre Haute	Vigo	Broadcast Media
10.2	Storm Total	3.7 N Bedford	Lawrence	CoCoRaHS Observer
10.2	Storm Total	0.7 E Cumberland	Hancock	CoCoRaHS Observer
10.2	Storm Total	Rushville	Rush	Cooperative Observer
10.1	Storm Total	7.1 WSW Shelbyville	Shelby	CoCoRaHS Observer
10.0	Storm Total	8.5 WSW Columbus	Bartholomew	CoCoRaHS Observer
10.0	Storm Total	3 W Greenwood	Johnson	NWS Employee
10.0	Storm Total	Alexandria	Madison	Trained Spotter
10.0	Storm Total	Bloomfield	Greene	Cooperative Observer
10.0	Storm Total	Brazil	Clay	Dep't of Highways
9.8	Storm Total	5.8S Greensburg	Decatur	CoCoRaHS Observer
9.7	Storm Total	0.3 WSW Sullivan	Sullivan	CoCoRaHS Observer
9.5	Storm Total	3 SSE Ridgeville	Randolph	Cooperative Observer
9.5	Storm Total	2 ESE Merom	Sullivan	Cooperative Observer
9.5	Storm Total	3.1 NNW Filmore	Putnam	CoCoRaHS Observer
9.3	Storm Total	4 ENE Jasonville	Clay	CoCoRaHS Observer
8.7	Storm Total	4.1 ENE Atlanta	Tipton	CoCoRaHS Observer
8.6	Storm Total	7S Spencer	Owen	CoCoRaHS Observer
8.4	Storm Total	6 SE Crawfordsville	Montgomery	CoCoRaHS Observer
8.1	Storm Total	3.9 WSW Lebanon	Boone	CoCoRaHS Observer
8.1	Storm Total	3.8 N Zionsville	Boone	CoCoRaHS Observer
8.0	Storm Total	1.6 E Jamestown	Boone	CoCoRaHS Observer
8.0	Storm Total	4.7 NW Lapel	Hamilton	CoCoRaHS Observer
8.0	Storm Total	5 NE Seymour	Jackson	Broadcast Media
8.0	Storm Total	Clinton	Vermillion	Dep't of Highways
7.8	Storm Total	4.9 NNW Cicero	Hamilton	CoCoRaHS Observer
7.6	Storm Total	1.8 ENE Lewisville	Henry	CoCoRaHS Observer
7.4	Storm Total	4.4 W Lebanon	Boone	CoCoRaHS Observer
7.0	Storm Total	Rockville	Parke	Dep't of Highways
7.0	Storm Total	0.4NNW Covington	Fountain	CoCoRaHS Observer
6.8	Storm Total	4.5 NNE Lizton	Boone	CoCoRaHS Observer
6.5	Storm Total	4.6 ESE Kokomo	Howard	CoCoRaHS Observer
6.0	Storm Total	Frankfort	Clinton	Dep't of Highways
5.8	Storm Total	5 WSW Kokomo	Howard	Cooperative Observer
5.0	Storm Total	West Lebanon	Warren	Dep't of Highways
4.5	Storm Total	4 WNW Perrysville	Vermillion	Cooperative Observer
4.0	Storm Total	6 NW West Laf.	Tippecanoe	Cooperative Observer
3.7	Storm Total	2.3SE Otterbein	Tippecanoe	CoCoRaHS Observer

Table of Top 6 Snow Storms at Indianapolis: (as of January 2009)

Date	Storm Total Snow
2/16-2/18/1910	16.1
1/25-1/27/1978	15.5
2/27-2/29/1984	13.2
12/19-12/21/1973	13.0
1/2-1/4/1996	12.8
1/12-1/14/1968	12.5
2/24-2/26/1965	12.5
1/26-1/28/2009	12.5

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