Overview
This webpage is a summary for the October 17th, 2022 lake enhanced snow event over Northern Indiana and Southwest Lower Michigan. An intense band of lake effect rain/snow developed during the afternoon and evening hours of 10/17/22, bringing 1-4" of accumulation in areas beneath the band. Heavy, wet snow brought down trees/limbs around the area, and caused power outages. Roads were quickly snow covered/slick where it was accumulating fast. Wind gusts to 40-50 mph occurred near the Lake Michigan shoreline, and 30 to 40 mph inland through the afternoon and evening.
Wind:
The winds were pretty strong with this system, with many locations seeing between 35-40 mph wind gusts. Several locations, especially near Lake Michigan, saw wind gusts up to 40-50 mph! Once it began snowing, the combination of gusty winds and heavy, wet snow (in some areas mixed with rain) caused tree damage in many locations.
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| From @Lindajnews at WPTA. Trees down in Fort Wayne, IN | Tree Damage near Lake Everette, IN courtesy of @CILWX_ | Tree Damage near Lake Everette, IN courtesy of @CILWX_ | Tree Damage at NWS IWX, which is 2N North Webster, IN. Photo taken by: Megan Dodson |
WIND DAMAGE REPORTS FROM OCTOBER 17
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0545 PM NON-TSTM WND DMG 2 N NORTH WEBSTER 41.35N 85.70W
10/17/2022 KOSCIUSKO IN OFFICIAL NWS OBS
TREE LIMB 6-12 INCHES IN DIAMETER DOWNED
FROM THE COMBINATION OF HEAVY WET SNOW AND
WIND.
0725 PM NON-TSTM WND DMG SYRACUSE 41.42N 85.75W
10/17/2022 KOSCIUSKO IN BROADCAST MEDIA
REPORT WITH PICTURE ON TWITTER SHOWING A
COUPLE OF TREES DOWNED IN SYRACUSE. POWER
OUTAGES ARE REPORTED IN THE AREA FROM THE
WIND AND HEAVY, WET SNOW COMBINATION.
0855 PM NON-TSTM WND DMG 1 NNW FORT WAYNE 41.09N 85.15W
10/17/2022 ALLEN IN BROADCAST MEDIA
A TREE SPLIT INTO THREE AND ONE OF THE LIMBS
FELL ONTO SPRING STREET NEAR THE 500 BLOCK.
THE LIMBS APPEAR TO BE 6 TO 12 INCHES IN
DIAMETER AND RELATIVELY HEALTHY. LIKELY
COLLAPSED FROM THE WIND AND HEAVY, WET SNOW.
1030 PM NON-TSTM WND DMG LAKE EVERETT 41.16N 85.31W
10/17/2022 ALLEN IN PUBLIC
SEVERAL TREES DOWNED IN THE LAKE EVERETTE
AREA FROM THE COMBINATION OF HEAVY, WET SNOW
AND GUSTY WINDS TODAY. UNCERTAIN AS TO WHAT
TIME THE TREES FELL BUT IT WAS REPORTED TO
US AT 1030 PM EDT.
1100 PM NON-TSTM WND DMG 2 WNW FORT WAYNE 41.08N 85.18W
10/17/2022 ALLEN IN BROADCAST MEDIA
SEVERAL TREES AND BRANCHES DOWNED DUE TO
STRONG WINDS AND WET SNOW.
Maximum Wind Gust Reports from 10/17/22 to 10/18/22
Public Information Statement National Weather Service Northern Indiana 655 PM EDT Tue Oct 18 2022 ...HIGHEST WIND REPORTS FOR PERIOD OCTOBER 17 and 18... Location Speed Time/Date Lat/Lon ...Indiana... ...Allen County... 2.9 S Wallen (INDOT) 40 MPH 0259 PM 10/17 41.17N/85.09W Fort Wayne International Ap 40 MPH 0437 PM 10/17 40.98N/85.18W ...Cass County... Walton 33 MPH 1030 AM 10/18 40.66N/86.22W ...De Kalb County...W Auburn Dekalb C 30 MPH 0215 PM 10/18 41.30N/85.07W ...Elkhart County... Goshen 38 MPH 0230 PM 10/17 41.53N/85.78W ...Fulton County... Rochester 31 MPH 0555 PM 10/17 41.07N/86.18W ...Grant County... Gas City 37 MPH 0459 PM 10/17 40.48N/85.55W Grant County Municipal Apt 35 MPH 0715 PM 10/17 40.48N/85.68W ...Huntington County... Huntington 33 MPH 0335 PM 10/17 40.85N/85.45W Markle 30 MPH 0343 PM 10/17 40.82N/85.41W ...Kosciusko County... Warsaw Muni 35 MPH 0255 PM 10/17 41.27N/85.83W NE Tulare 33 MPH 0308 PM 10/17 41.20N/85.71W Warsaw 30 MPH 0205 PM 10/17 41.21N/85.85W ...La Porte County... Michigan City KMGC 37 MPH 1235 AM 10/18 41.70N/86.82W ...Marshall County... 2.6 NW Argos (INDOT) 32 MPH 0339 PM 10/17 41.24N/86.26W Plymouth 32 MPH 0355 PM 10/17 41.37N/86.30W ...Miami County... Grissom AFB Peru 31 MPH 0628 PM 10/17 40.63N/86.15W ...Noble County... Kendallville 36 MPH 1155 AM 10/17 41.47N/85.25W ...St. Joseph County... South Bend International Ap 40 MPH 0219 PM 10/17 41.70N/86.32W ...Starke County... Knox - Starke Co. Airport 30 MPH 0315 AM 10/18 41.33N/86.67W ...Steuben County... Angola 36 MPH 0155 PM 10/17 41.63N/85.08W ...Wabash County... Somerset 32 MPH 0425 PM 10/17 40.66N/85.81W RoAnn 31 MPH 0330 PM 10/17 40.89N/85.92W ...Wells County... Markle 34 MPH 0340 PM 10/17 40.86N/85.32W ...Whitley County... 4.5 S Columbia City 31 MPH 0330 PM 10/17 41.09N/85.47W ...Michigan... ...Berrien County... Benton Harbor 45 MPH 0525 PM 10/17 42.13N/86.42W Saint Joseph 44 MPH 0400 AM 10/18 42.10N/86.49W Eau Claire 36 MPH 0559 PM 10/17 41.99N/86.27W 4.1 S Fair Plain (MAWN) 36 MPH 1100 PM 10/17 42.02N/86.43W 2.0 W Spinks Corners (MAWN) 35 MPH 0600 PM 10/17 42.08N/86.36W 4.2 S Watervliet (MAWN) 35 MPH 1000 PM 10/17 42.13N/86.27W 2.2 W Berrien Springs (MAWN) 32 MPH 0500 PM 10/17 41.94N/86.38W ...Branch County... Coldwater 33 MPH 1155 AM 10/18 41.92N/85.03W ...Hillsdale County... Camden 37 MPH 0229 PM 10/17 41.71N/84.65W Hillsdale 32 MPH 0255 PM 10/18 41.92N/84.58W ...St. Joseph County... Three Rivers 35 MPH 0515 PM 10/18 41.97N/85.60W Sturgis Kirsch 30 MPH 1235 PM 10/17 41.80N/85.43W ...Ohio... ...Allen County... Lima 43 MPH 0414 PM 10/17 40.70N/84.02W Lima 1 N 34 MPH 0558 PM 10/17 40.78N/84.12W Bluffton 33 MPH 0520 PM 10/17 40.89N/83.89W ...Defiance County... Defiance 39 MPH 0353 PM 10/17 41.33N/84.43W ...Fulton County... Wauseon 36 MPH 0215 PM 10/17 41.62N/84.13W ...Putnam County... Ottawa 39 MPH 0535 PM 10/17 41.03N/83.98W Kalida 38 MPH 0430 PM 10/17 40.98N/84.20W ...Van Wert County... Van Wert 47 MPH 0410 PM 10/17 40.85N/84.48W 1 ENE Van Wert 37 MPH 0459 PM 10/17 40.87N/84.56W Scott 34 MPH 0459 PM 10/18 40.95N/84.51W Van Wert County Airport 33 MPH 0155 PM 10/17 40.86N/84.61W Scott 32 MPH 0559 PM 10/17 40.95N/84.51W ...Williams County... Bryan 30 MPH 0100 PM 10/17 41.50N/84.56W ...Michigan... ...Maritime Stations... 4 NW Bridgman 49 MPH 0810 PM 10/17 41.98N/86.62W 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. $$
Snow
Locations beneath the heaviest lake effect band saw precipitation rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour at times, which caused an earlier transition to all snow than originally forecasted. As of 11 pm EDT 10/17/22, we had reports of 2 to 4 inches of snow in the worst hit areas, and about 1-3 inches in the surrounding locations. Here is a list of snow totals, which will be updated once we finalize the snow totals from our observers in the morning.
Snow Totals for the October 17-18 event
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 647 PM EDT TUE OCT 18 2022 ...SNOWFALL REPORTS FOR OCT 17/18 EVENT... LOCATION AMOUNT TIME/DATE LAT/LON ...INDIANA... ...ALLEN COUNTY... FORT WAYNE 2.6 NW 1.8 IN 0700 AM 10/18 41.10N/85.18W FORT WAYNE 4.1 NE 0.9 IN 0700 AM 10/18 41.12N/85.09W FORT WAYNE INTL APRT 0.7 IN 0800 AM 10/18 40.98N/85.18W FORT WAYNE 2.6 NE 0.6 IN 0700 AM 10/18 41.10N/85.11W FORT WAYNE 9.3 W 0.5 IN 0700 AM 10/18 41.05N/85.31W ...ELKHART COUNTY... NAPPANEE 4.8 NE 2.0 IN 0700 AM 10/18 41.50N/85.92W GOSHEN 3.0 WSW 1.1 IN 0700 AM 10/18 41.56N/85.88W GOSHEN 0.3 NE 1.0 IN 0845 AM 10/18 41.58N/85.83W WAKARUSA 2.4 NNE 0.8 IN 0700 AM 10/18 41.57N/85.99W ...KOSCIUSKO COUNTY... LEESBURG 6.7 ESE 2.8 IN 0700 AM 10/18 41.31N/85.72W NWS NORTHERN INDIANA 2.7 IN 0800 AM 10/18 41.36N/85.70W MILFORD 0.9 N 1.7 IN 0700 AM 10/18 41.42N/85.85W ...NOBLE COUNTY... ALBION 2.9 S 1.2 IN 0900 AM 10/18 41.35N/85.42W ...WHITLEY COUNTY... TRI-LAKES 3.0 N 3.3 IN 0700 AM 10/18 41.26N/85.49W COLUMBIA CITY 5.4 N 3.0 IN 0700 AM 10/18 41.24N/85.49W COLUMBIA CITY 6.9 N 3.0 IN 0700 AM 10/18 41.26N/85.51W COLUMBIA CITY 0.5 WSW 1.8 IN 0745 AM 10/18 41.16N/85.49W 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.
Photos
Thank you to those who submitted photos to us during and after the event. We really appreciate having them for ground truth while an event is going on, and also after the event to document what happened. If you'd like to send us a report or picture, send it to our webmaster email: nws.northernindiana@noaa.gov
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| At NWS IWX: 2N North Webster, IN. Photo taken by: Megan Dodson | At NWS IWX: 2N North Webster, IN. Photo taken by: Megan Dodson | At NWS IWX: 2N North Webster, IN. Photo taken by: Megan Dodson | At NWS IWX: 2N North Webster, IN. Photo taken by: Megan Dodson |
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| Leesburg, IN (Lonnie Fisher) | Leesburg, IN (Lonnie Fisher) | Snowman west of Fort Wayne, IN (Kyle Stoffel) | Syracuse, IN (Linda Minnick) |
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| Leesburg, IN. Photo taken by Michelle Hall | Snow in Larwill, IN Photo taken by: Kathie Schram | Snow 2SE Wilmot, IN. Photo taken by: Kelley Sheiss | Churubusco, IN. Photo taken by: Judy Garrison |
Radar
Radar images from the event are below.
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| Regional Radar Image showing Lake Effect Band towards the end of the event on 10/17/22. Moisture was brought down from Lake Superior to feed the snow bands (AWIPS Screenshot, NWS IWX) | KIWX Radar image from ~6 pm EDT showing the MPING reports of mixed precipitation and the large lake enhanced band responsible for higher totals (Radarscope) |
Radar Loop of the Event
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| KIWX Radar Loop from 12 pm to 11 pm EDT Oct 17 (IEMCow) |
Environment
In the upper levels of the atmosphere, there was a large upper level low (Fig. 1) that provided good upper level support for the precipitation and strong upper level winds. At 850mb (Fig. 2), the temperatures were cold enough to create some instability over the warm Lake Michigan waters, which gave us our lake enhancement for the snow band. Frontogenesis was underway in the low to mid levels as well, which is maximized where our largest band was (Fig. 3).
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| Figure 1: 500mb chart: Upper level low over the Great Lakes at 21z when the band was cranking (SPC Mesoanalysis Page) | Figure 2: 850mb chart showing the 850mb temperatures, heights, and winds at 21z when the band was cranking (SPC Mesoanalysis Page) | Figure 3: 850-925 mb image of Pettersen Frontogenesis depicting enhancement at 21z when the band was cranking (SPC Mesoanalysis Page) |
At the surface, a low pressure system was moving through the Great Lakes, dragging a cold front through the forecast area. This provided lift and colder air for the snow band to intensify and change to mostly snow.
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| Figure 4: Surface Analysis at 11 am EDT October 17th, 2022 (WPC Surface Analysis Archive) | Figure 5: Surface Analysis at 2 pm EDT October 17th, 2022 (WPC Surface Analysis Archive) | Figure 6: Surface Analysis at 5 pm EDT October 17th, 2022 (WPC Surface Analysis Archive) |
With the 850mb temperature differences in place (Figs. 8-9), a deeper saturated Dendritic Growth Zone (Fig. 7), and north-northwest winds we were able to develop the stronger single band.
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| Figure 7: Snow Growth Layer Depth and Relative Humidity (SPC Mesoanalysis Page) | Figure 8: Lake Effect Snow variables highlighting the boundary layer relative humidity and the sfc-850mb temp difference in orange. Time was 4 pm EDT. (SPC Mesoanalysis Page) | Figure 9: Lake Effect Snow variables highlighting the boundary layer relative humidity and the sfc-850mb temp difference in orange. Time was 7 pm EDT. (SPC Mesoanalysis Page) |
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