Overview
Several lake effect snow bands affected southern Lower Michigan and northern Indiana on December 12th. Storm total snowfall amounts varied greatly due to the large number of individual snow bands. The greatest storm total snowfall of 9.5 inches was received in Cass County Michigan.Snow
A listing of all the specific snow totals can be found under the "Snow Reports" tab. Thanks to those that submitted reports to us throughout the event.
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| Smoothed snowfall contours with reports overlaid |
Wind
Public Information Statement National Weather Service Northern Indiana 624 PM EST Tue Dec 12 2017 ...24 hour peak wind reports ending at 620 PM EST... Location Speed Time/Date Lat/Lon ...Indiana... ...Allen County... 2 S Wallen 36 MPH 0500 AM 12/12 41.12N/85.16W Fort Wayne International Ap 35 MPH 0455 AM 12/12 40.98N/85.19W ...Elkhart County... Goshen Municipal Airport 45 MPH 0327 AM 12/12 41.53N/85.79W ...Fulton County... Fulton County Airport 35 MPH 0515 AM 12/12 41.07N/86.18W ...La Porte County... La Porte 37 MPH 0415 AM 12/12 41.57N/86.73W 2 E Trail Creek 37 MPH 0155 AM 12/12 41.70N/86.82W ...Miami County... 1 SSW Grissom Afb 38 MPH 0556 AM 12/12 40.65N/86.15W ...St. Joseph County... South Bend International Ap 41 MPH 0259 AM 12/12 41.71N/86.32W ...Starke County... 2 ESE Brems 38 MPH 0355 AM 12/12 41.33N/86.66W ...Michigan... ...Berrien County... Saint Joseph 41 MPH 0710 AM 12/12 42.10N/86.49W Southwest Michigan Regional 38 MPH 0121 AM 12/12 42.13N/86.43W Saint Joseph 36 MPH 1235 AM 12/12 42.10N/86.49W ...Ohio... ...Allen County... Lima Allen County Airport 37 MPH 0653 AM 12/12 40.71N/84.02W 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. $$
Radar:
The loop below shows the radar evolution of the lake effect snow event from 1am to 11pm. Several intense snow bands were noted during the event leading to the highly variable nature in the storm total snow amounts.
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| Radar imagery from 1am-11pm EST |
Snow Reports
Location Amount Time/Date Lat/Lon ...Indiana... ...Allen County... 2 ENE Nine Mile 1.4 in 0700 PM 12/12 40.99N/85.19W Fort Wayne International Ap 1.4 in 0654 AM 12/13 40.98N/85.19W ...De Kalb County... Auburn 1.1 in 0600 AM 12/13 41.37N/85.05W Garrett 1.0 in 0700 AM 12/13 41.34N/85.13W ...Elkhart County... 4 N Middlebury 6.0 in 0740 PM 12/12 41.73N/85.72W Millersburg 5.1 in 0700 AM 12/13 41.52N/85.70W Goshen 2.0 in 0420 PM 12/12 41.58N/85.84W Elkhart Public Works & U 1.5 in 1200 AM 12/13 41.68N/86.00W 2 NNE Wakarusa 1.4 in 0700 AM 12/13 41.57N/85.99W Goshen 3sw 1.0 in 0700 PM 12/12 41.56N/85.88W ...Fulton County... Rochester 1.0 in 0700 AM 12/13 41.07N/86.21W ...Huntington County... Roanoke 4.0 in 0752 PM 12/12 40.97N/85.37W ...Kosciusko County... 2 N North Webster 1.6 in 1200 AM 12/13 41.36N/85.70W James Lake 1.5 in 0700 AM 12/13 41.31N/85.72W Northern Indiana Wfo 1.4 in 1200 AM 12/13 41.36N/85.70W 1 N Warsaw 1.3 in 0600 AM 12/13 41.26N/85.85W Leesburg 1.0 in 0600 AM 12/13 41.33N/85.85W ...La Porte County... 1 ENE La Porte 5.5 in 0442 PM 12/12 41.61N/86.70W Laporte 3.4 in 0100 AM 12/13 41.61N/86.73W 2 WSW Springville 2.0 in 0730 AM 12/13 41.67N/86.78W ...Marshall County... Plymouth 6.5 in 0445 AM 12/13 41.34N/86.34W Burr Oak 5.5 in 0321 PM 12/12 41.26N/86.42W 1 N Twin Lakes 3.3 in 0500 AM 12/13 41.33N/86.36W ...Noble County... Bear Lake 5.0 in 1257 PM 12/12 41.32N/85.52W ...St. Joseph County... 3 E Indian Village 6.4 in 0453 PM 12/12 41.71N/86.18W Osceola 6.0 in 0901 PM 12/12 41.67N/86.08W Georgetown 5.9 in 0808 PM 12/12 41.73N/86.23W Granger 5.5 in 0123 PM 12/12 41.74N/86.14W 2 SW Granger 5.5 in 0159 PM 12/12 41.71N/86.17W Mishawaka 5.0 in 0126 PM 12/12 41.67N/86.17W Osceola 5.0 in 0151 PM 12/12 41.67N/86.08W 1 E Indian Village 4.3 in 0700 PM 12/12 41.71N/86.21W 1 ESE Indian Village 4.3 in 0700 PM 12/12 41.71N/86.21W 1 ENE Gulivoire Park 3.5 in 0700 AM 12/13 41.62N/86.22W 1 S Roseland 3.0 in 1200 AM 12/13 41.71N/86.25W South Bend 3.0 in 1200 AM 12/13 41.70N/86.25W South Bend International Ap 2.9 in 0654 PM 12/12 41.71N/86.32W 3 E Chain-O-Lakes 2.9 in 0654 PM 12/12 41.71N/86.32W Roseland 2.6 in 1200 AM 12/13 41.71N/86.25W South Bend 2.6 in 1200 AM 12/13 41.70N/86.25W 2 NW South Bend 1.0 in 1140 AM 12/12 41.70N/86.30W ...Steuben County... 2 WSW Golden Lake 1.2 in 0600 AM 12/13 41.59N/85.10W ...Wells County... 1 S Bluffton 2.9 in 0201 PM 12/12 40.73N/85.17W Bluffton 2.2 in 0153 PM 12/12 40.74N/85.17W 2 W Ossian 1.0 in 0800 AM 12/13 40.87N/85.21W ...Whitley County... 1 NNW Tri-lakes 2.3 in 0500 PM 12/12 41.24N/85.49W 1 NNE Tri-Lakes 2.0 in 1035 AM 12/12 41.23N/85.48W ...Michigan... ...Berrien County... Lake Michigan Beach 5.5 in 0743 PM 12/12 42.22N/86.38W Niles 4.7 in 0300 PM 12/12 41.84N/86.27W 1 WNW Niles 4.7 in 0300 PM 12/12 41.84N/86.27W Fair Plain 2.6 in 1155 PM 12/12 42.08N/86.45W Saint Joseph 2.5 in 1103 AM 12/12 42.10N/86.49W 1 SE Stevensville 2.0 in 0700 AM 12/13 41.99N/86.51W 1 W Fair Plain 1.8 in 0700 AM 12/13 42.08N/86.48W 1 WNW Buchanan 1.0 in 0600 AM 12/13 41.84N/86.39W ...Cass County... 3 ESE Magician Lake 9.5 in 0740 PM 12/12 42.04N/86.11W Barron Lake 4.5 in 0900 AM 12/13 41.84N/86.18W ...Hillsdale County... Litchfield 2.0 in 0700 AM 12/13 42.05N/84.75W ...St. Joseph County... White Pigeon 6.0 in 0744 PM 12/12 41.80N/85.64W Constantine 5.0 in 0740 PM 12/12 41.84N/85.67W
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. $$
Environment
A very cold air mass dropped southward across the Great Lakes region which allowed the lake effect snow to develop.
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| Figure 1: 1 AM EST Surface Map. An Arctic cold front passed through northern Indiana. Shortly after, peak wind gusts for this event were observed. | Figure 2: 7 AM EST 925mb (~2,000ft) analysis. At this level, the winds from the northwest over the Great Lakes region were conducive for lake effect snow. | Figure 3:7 AM EST 850mb (~4500ft) analysis. Very cold low level air (-17 to -20 deg Celsius) aided in lake effect snow generation. |
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