INDIANA, USA — We are less than 12 hours until the chance for rain switches over to a burst of snow in spots across Indiana. Impacts look low, but there may be some slick spots overnight into early Thanksgiving Thursday morning.
Tap HERE to track the incoming rain and mix heading toward Indiana with our interactive radar.
This is not a major storm system. We have a lot of cold air rushing toward Indiana this weekend. In fact, this cold air surge is moving so quickly that it is pushing this storm system along so fast that it does not have time to rapidly develop. That means all rain and snow chances will be on the light side, but there may still be some slushy slick spots.
Timing out the rain and snow (Wednesday night into Thursday morning)
- 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.: Isolated light rain showers
- 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.: Rain gets a little heavier and more widespread
- 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.: Rain chances to some snow across central Indiana, especially north of Indianapolis
- Note: Some locations north of Indianapolis like Lafayette, Kokomo, Westfield, Noblesville, and Muncie may switch to some snow around 8-9PM.
- 4 a.m. to 8 a.m.: Isolated snow flurries and some rain drops
Who has the best chance for some snow?
Snow totals would be low, but areas in the pink and blue will have the chance to switch to some snow at times during the dark hours of the evening and night.
- Green: Mainly just a cold rain (up to a 0.5" of rain)
- Pink: Rain changing to a wintry mix -- minor impacts
- Blue: Rain first, but then changing to a possible burst of snow (some slick spots)
Snowfall forecast (as of 11 a.m. Wednesday)
This isn't a snow storm, but we may get some slushy snow to stick, especially to grass, mailboxes, parked cars, and rooftops. Roads will mainly stay wet. Some areas in the deeper blue could be some temporary snow to stick to roads, creating some slick spots.
The best chance for some light accumulations would be from Brownsburg to Carmel to Noblesville to New Castle to Muncie and Richmond.
This is not guaranteed, but we do think these are the locations that have the highest chance for more time with cold air, thus a longer window for snow mixing in.
Rain first...
It will stay mostly dry until the early and mid-afternoon. Some isolated rain showers will move in from the west. These should be light.
Changing to snow later
Everyone will get something different tonight. Everyone will switch to some snow at different times after dark, if you're in the "possible snow" zone.
Pink-circled towns are the ones where temperatures will be just cold enough to help change raindrops to some slushy snowflakes. If you get can below 34 degrees, especially in rural areas, you will see some more accumulation.
Thanksgiving Day
This rain/snow will be out of here by 7 or 8 a.m. In fact, there may be a few sun breaks in the morning across parts of central Indiana, especially west of Indianapolis.
Roads and sidewalks may be a bit wet. If you got some snow, it would likely melt quickly.
Most of Thanksgiving looks dry. It may be a bit breezy and cold, but at least there doesn't look to be a lot of precipitation. Wind chills will be below freezing much of day.
Snow flurries Thanksgiving afternoon / evening
Although most of the day looks dry, some places north and east of Indianapolis may get some lake-enhanced snow showers. They shouldn't be too strong, but don't be surprised if you see some snow showers flying around later on Thanksgiving Day.
Areas south and west of Indianapolis may start to get a little more sunshine later in the day.
Arctic blast arrives Friday and lingers into early next week...
Behind the Thanksgiving storm system will be a more quiet setup, but also MUCH COLDER air settling in from a Canadian air mass. The Circle of Lights celebration in downtown Indianapolis Friday evening will be very cold (in the 20s) with highs Friday afternoon only near the freezing mark. High temperatures this upcoming weekend will struggle to reach 30 degrees with overnight lows in the teens. Unseasonably cold temperatures stick around through at least next Tuesday.
