An area of low pressure moved across the Tennessee Valley and brought another round of snow to Central Indiana during the evening of December 28 and the early morning hours of December 29. Snowfall amounts ranged from around an inch to over 6 inches.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS IND wrote it up.
An area of low pressure moved across the Tennessee Valley and brought another round of snow to Central Indiana during the evening of December 28 and the early morning hours of December 29. Snowfall amounts ranged from around an inch to over 6 inches. The heaviest amounts fell from Knox to Lawrence County. Also, a separate band of snow set up north of the main snow area and persisted for a few hours. This led to a thin strip of around 6 inches at some locations.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Indianapolis, IN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 28, 3:22 PM EST, 1 hour 38 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 322 PM EST FRI DEC 28 2012 .UPDATE... THE AVIATION SECTION HAS BEEN UPDATED BELOW && .SYNOPSIS... ISSUED AT 141 PM EST FRI DEC 28 2012 A COLD FRONT AND ASSOCIATED LOW PRESSURE AREA WILL CROSS INDIANA TONIGHT. THESE SYSTEMS WILL BE FOLLOWED BY HIGH PRESSURE...WHICH SHOULD DOMINATE OUR WEATHER THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. COLD FRONTS WILL PASS AGAIN ON MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY WITH HIGH PRESSURE OVER OUR STATE TUESDAY AND THURSDAY. && .NEAR TERM /TONIGHT/... ISSUED AT 141 PM EST FRI DEC 28 2012 BIG ISSUE IS SNOW AMOUNTS. ALL MODELS AGREE THAT IT WILL SNOW. THEY ALSO MORE OR LESS AGREE AMOUNTS ABOUT 3-4 INCHES EXTREME SOUTH TO LESS THAN AN INCH NORTHWEST. THIS MAY BE LOW. IN CROSS SECTION...GOOD ALIGNMENT OF RATHER STRONG Q VECTOR DIVERGENCE AND FRONTOGENESIS. SOME UNSTABLE EQUIVALENT POTENTIAL VORTICITY IN SAME AREA. AS PER TRAINING FROM WARNING DECISION TRAINING BRANCH...WHEN ALL THESE ALIGN SITUATION IS QUITE FAVORABLE FOR SNOW. THUS WILL BUMP MODEL ACCUMULATIONS TO 3 TO 5 SOUTHEAST...WHERE ADVISORY WILL BE NEEDED...TO AROUND ONE INCH NORTHWEST. GUIDANCE TEMPS ARE CLOSE AND WILL USE CONSENSUS. && .SHORT TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... ISSUED AT 141 PM EST FRI DEC 28 2012 MAIN ISSUE IS WHAT POPS TO CARRY INTO SATURDAY. SOME SNOW FROM OVERNIGHT SYSTEM MAY LINGER INTO MORNING IN THE EAST. ALSO...LOOKS LIKE WINDS WILL ALIGN ENOUGH FOR SOME SNOW SHOWERS FROM LAKE MICHIGAN. ITS UNUSUAL FOR FLOW TO BE NORTHERLY ENOUGH FOR THESE TO REACH OUR CENTRAL AND WESTERN COUNTIES. THIS SITUATION DOESNT LOOK LIKE THE EXCEPTION. THIS SUGGESTS MET POPS TOO HIGH. BUT DONT WANT TO GO ALL THE TO THE MAV GIVEN ECM MOS BEING SOMEWHAT HIGHER AND ALSO UNCERTAINTY ABOUT WHEN SNOW WILL END IN EAST. DECIDED TO USE THE INTERMEDIATE EUROPEAN GUIDANCE. AFTER SATURDAY REASONABLE AGREEMENT ABOUT IN AND OUT CLOUDS UNTIL MONDAY WHEN CHANCE PRECIPITATION WILL RETURN. RAIN NOT OUT OF QUESTION IN WARM ADVECTION THEN...BUT SNOW SEEMS BETTER BET. WILL NOT MENTION LIQUID FOR NOW. TEMPS VERY DIFFICULT. WITH SNOW...EVERYTHING DEPENDS ON JUST HOW CLOUDS PAN OUT. FOR NOW SPLITTING DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MAV AND MET...AT LEAST CLOSE TO EUROPEAN GUIDANCE. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY/... ISSUED AT 210 PM EST FRI DEC 28 2012 MODELS ARE IN REASONABLE AGREEMENT THIS PERIOD...SO SAW NO REASON TO DIFFER FROM ALLBLEND INITIALIZATION FOR MOST ITEMS. THE EXITING FRONT AND COLD ADVECTION BEHIND IT WILL KEEP CHANCES FOR SNOW MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD IN BRIEFLY...BUT ANOTHER REINFORCING SHOT OF COLD AIR WILL MOVE IN FOR THURSDAY. FEEL THAT THIS SHOT OF COLD AIR COULD SQUEEZE OUT SOME LIGHT SNOW ACROSS NORTHERN SECTIONS OF THE AREA THURSDAY...SO LEFT ALLBLEND/S LOW POPS IN THEN. COLD AND DRY WEATHER THEN CAN BE EXPECTED ON FRIDAY. SINGLE DIGIT TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE SEEN BY EARLY FRIDAY. && .AVIATION /DISCUSSION FOR THE 28/2100Z TAF UPDATE/... ISSUED AT 318 PM EST FRI DEC 28 2012 UPDATE... NO CHANGES. PREVIOUS DISCUSSION... GENERALLY MVFR CONDITIONS GIVING WAY TO IFR AFTER 00Z. CEILINGS WILL GENERALLY HANG AROUND BKN015-BKN025 THROUGH 00Z...BUT THERE IS A CHANCE SOME OF THE BREAKS IN THE LOWER CLOUDS ACROSS SOUTHERN ILLINOIS COULD WORK INTO THE SITES. HOWEVER STUCK WITH THE PESSIMISTIC FORECAST BASED ON AN INVERSION ALOFT AND PERSISTANCE. SNOW WILL OVERSPREAD THE AREA AFTER 00Z FROM SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST RESULTING IN IFR CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES. LIFR CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE IN SOME HEAVIER BANDS OF SNOW. SNOW WILL EXIT THE AREA BEF0RE 12Z BUT IFR CEILINGS SHOULD PERSIST THROUGH AT LEAST 18Z SATURDAY. && .IND WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 7 AM EST SATURDAY FOR INZ041-042-049-053>057-060>065-067>072. && SYNOPSIS...JK NEAR TERM...JK SHORT TERM...JK LONG TERM....50 AVIATION...50/TDUD
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 305 PM EST FRI DEC 28 2012 INZ021-028>031-035>040-043>048-051-052-292015- CARROLL-WARREN-TIPPECANOE-CLINTON-HOWARD-FOUNTAIN-MONTGOMERY- BOONE-TIPTON-HAMILTON-MADISON-VERMILLION-PARKE-PUTNAM-HENDRICKS- MARION-HANCOCK-VIGO-CLAY- 305 PM EST FRI DEC 28 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL INDIANA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. OUTLOOK: SNOW. HAZARDS: ACCUMULATIONS 1 TO 3 INCHES. TIMING: OVERNIGHT. DISCUSSION: THE SNOW WILL BE CAUSED BY LOW PRESSURE MOVING THROUGH KENTUCKY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. OUTLOOK: SNOW SHOWERS MAY LINGER INTO SATURDAY EVENING...BUT ANY AMOUNTS WILL BE LIGHT. SNOW IS POSSIBLE AGAIN MONDAY INTO NEW YEARS DAY AND THEN ON THURSDAY. IT IS TOO EARLY TO FORECAST AMOUNTS. DISCUSSION: ANY SNOW WILL BE FROM THE COMBINED EFFECTS OF COLD FRONTS AND LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS. THESE ARE DIFFICULT TO FORECAST...SO KEEP TRACK OF UPDATES FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. HOWEVER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS. && MORE INFORMATION...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND...AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/IND (ALL LOWERCASE) INZ041-042-049-053>057-060>065-067>072-292015- DELAWARE-RANDOLPH-HENRY-OWEN-MORGAN-JOHNSON-SHELBY-RUSH-SULLIVAN- GREENE-MONROE-BROWN-BARTHOLOMEW-DECATUR-KNOX-DAVIESS-MARTIN- LAWRENCE-JACKSON-JENNINGS- 305 PM EST FRI DEC 28 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL INDIANA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. OUTLOOK: SNOW. HAZARDS: ACCUMULATIONS 3 TO 5 INCHES. TIMING: OVERNIGHT. DISCUSSION: A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT BECAUSE OF THE EXPECTED SNOWFALL. SNOW WILL BE CAUSED BY A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVING THROUGH KENTUCKY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. OUTLOOK: NOW SHOWERS MAY LINGER INTO SATURDAY EVENING...BUT ANY AMOUNTS WILL BE LIGHT. SNOW IS POSSIBLE AGAIN FROM MONDAY INTO NEW YEARS DAY AND THEN ON THURSDAY. IT IS TOO EARLY TO FORECAST AMOUNTS. DISCUSSION: ANY SNOW WILL BE FROM THE COMBINED EFFECTS OF COLD FRONTS AND LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS. THESE ARE DIFFICULT TO FORECAST...SO KEEP TRACK OF UPDATES FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. HOWEVER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS. && MORE INFORMATION...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND...AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/IND (ALL LOWERCASE) JK
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
The co-op observer, in Vincennes, measured 8.1 inches of snowfall from this winter storm. No information was available regarding any power outages or business and road closures. Schools were not in session during this event.
The CoCoRaHS observer, two miles northwest of Washington, measured 8.0 inches of snowfall from this winter storm. No information was available regarding any power outages or business and road closures. Schools were not in session during this event.
The co-op observer, three miles southwest of Williams, measured 7.5 inches of snowfall from this winter storm. No information was available regarding any power outages or business and road closures. Schools were not in session during this event.
The co-op observer, in Williams, measured 7.8 inches of snowfall from this winter storm. No information was available regarding any power outages or business and road closures. Schools were not in session during this event.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Indiana in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Indiana, December 2012
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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 425153, 425172, 425174, 425178.