Parts of the Area Dig Out From Surprise Heavy Snowfall
January 8, 2005
A fast moving but intensifying upper level disturbance affected most of the region late Friday night into early Saturday morning. Light snow began to develop in earnest across east central Missouri and southwest Illinois Friday evening in response to intense forcing within the exit region of a strong upper level jet streak and northeast of rapidly deepening mid level cyclone. This rapid deepening combined with intense forcing aloft underneath the upper level jet streak, a deep moisture plume advecting northward out of the Ohio valley, and ideal thermodynamic profile supporting large dendritic snow crystal growth all combined to support a narrow band of heavy snowfall over northern Indiana, roughly along and 25 miles either side of a Rochester to North Webster to Angola line. Snowfall reports from 5 to nearly 8 inches were observed in this band. Much of the snowfall occurred over period of only 3 to 4 hours. Here, at the Northern Indiana Weather Office, as well as a few other locations, snowfall rates as high as 3 inches per hour were observed. Figure 1 shows a radar estimated liquid precipitation equivalent for the event. Note the cyan and magenta colored areas which indicated the where the heaviest precipitation occurred.
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 Figure 1 National Weather Service Digital Storm Total Precipitation ending at 825 am EST 01/08/05 |
 Figure 2 Hand contour analysis of observed snowfall via cooperative observers and snow spotters. |
The following are some specific snow reports from around the area
...SOUTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN...
COUNTY CITY SNOW IN INCHES
HILLSDALE LITCHFIELD 2.7
BRANCH QUINCY 2.5
CASS NILES 1.2
BERRIEN BUCHANAN 1.0
BERRIEN EAU CLAIRE 1.0
BERRIEN BENTON HARBOR 0.7
ST JOSEPH WHITE PIGEON 2.3
...NORTHERN INDIANA...
COUNTY CITY SNOW IN INCHES
KOSCIUSKO WARSAW 7.5
KOSCIUSKO NORTH WEBSTER 7.5
KOSCIUSKO SYRACUSE(NWS) 7.4
KOSCIUSKO LEESBURG 7.2
NOBLE CROMWELL 7.0
FULTON ROCHESTER 7.0
KOSCIUSKO SYRACUSE 7.0
KOSCIUSKO MENTONE 6.0
FULTON AKRON 6.0
CASS LOGANSPORT 6.0
WHITE MONTICELLO 6.0
NOBLE KENDALLVILLE 6.0
STEUBEN ANGOLA (NORTH) 6.0
STEUBEN FREMONT 6.0
DEKALB ASHLEY 5.1
DEKALB WATERLOO 4.0
ELKHART MIDDLEBURY 5.1
STEUBEN ANGOLA (SOUTH) 5.0
STEUBEN PLEASANT LAKE 5.0
CASS LOGANSPORT 5.0
CASS LOGANSPORT 6.0
STEUBEN ANGOLA (WEST) 4.8
ELKHART MILLERSBURG 4.5
DEKALB AUBURN 4.0
BLACKFORD HARTFORD CITY 4.0
ST. JOSEPH SOUTH BEND ARPT 3.9
GRANT MARION 3.8
WHITE HEADLEE 3.8
ELKHART ELKHART 3.5
ALLEN MONROEVILLE 3.5
ELKHART NEW PARIS 3.5
DEKALB AUBURN 3.5
ALLEN FORT WAYNE ARPT 3.2
ALLEN FORT WAYNE 3.0
HUNTINGTON HUNTINGTON 3.0
ALLEN HOAGLAND 2.7
ST. JOSEPH SOUTH BEND 2.5
ST. JOSEPH NEW CARLISLE 1.5
LAPORTE ROLLING PRAIRIE 1.3
LAPORTE WESTVILLE 1.4
LAGRANGE LAGRANGE 4.3
WHITLEY COESSE 2.5
WHITLEY COLUMBIA CITY 3.5
STEUBEN METZ 3.5
STEUBEN SALEM CENTER 5.0
...NORTHWESTERN OHIO...
COUNTY CITY SNOW IN INCHES
PUTNAM COLUMBUS GROVE 5.6
HENRY DESHLER 5.6
ALLEN LIMA 5.0
PUTNAM PANDORA 5.0
PUTNAM OTTOVILLE 5.0
DEFIANCE HICKSVILLE 3.0
VAN WERT VAN WERT 3.5
PUTNAM OTTAWA 4.0-6.0
VAN WERT CONVOY 4.0
$$
A big thanks to those who relayed reports for this event.
TEH...01/09/05
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