Heavy Snow, Porter
- When
- January 17, 1:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
- Where
- Porter forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 41.509, -87.073 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Indiana, January 17, 2003
Very cold air moved south over Lake Michigan late on January 16th and during the morning hours of January 17th. Winds in the lower levels of the atmosphere were due north which allowed a narrow, persistent band of lake effect snow to form.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS LOT wrote it up.
Very cold air moved south over Lake Michigan late on January 16th and during the morning hours of January 17th. Winds in the lower levels of the atmosphere were due north which allowed a narrow, persistent band of lake effect snow to form. This band of snow dumped over a foot of snow over much of central Porter County. Chesterton reported a storm total of 20 inches. The snow quickly tapered off to only a few inches east and west of Porter County. However, this band of lake effect snow made it into Jasper County where 7 inches of snowfall was reported in DeMotte. The snowfall caused several accidents on the Indiana Toll Road, which had to be closed between mile markers 35 and 39.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Jasper
- When
- January 17, 3:00 AM CST to 10:00 AM CST
- Where
- Jasper forecast zone
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
- Coordinates
- 41.023, -87.116 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Heavy Snow
- Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
More
Every storm in Indiana in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Indiana, January 2003
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5338175, 5338176.