textproduct: Indianapolis

KEY MESSAGES

- Winter Storm Warning today through 7AM this morning

- Blowing and drifting snow, especially in rural areas, possible through tonight

- Dangerous wind chills through at least Wednesday

SHORT TERM (Today and tonight)

Issued at 255 AM EST Mon Jan 26 2026

The low level cyclone is not departing to the east with broad NW winds now overtaking the region. As this low departs, greater low level mixing should allow for occasional wind gusts upwards of 25mph. This may lead to pockets of blowing and drifting snow, especially in open country. As such, our Winter Storm Warning will continue until 12z today to account for lingering hazardous conditions during the overnight/early morning hours.

The elongated NW flow is also creating various conditions over the state tonight, with a low cloud deck stretching down stream of Lake Michigan. This low cloud deck is both producing light flurries and producing a narrow corridor reduced diurnal cooling keeping temperatures near 10 for now. As this cloud deck shifts eastward, so will the same conditions with western portions of Indiana in more prolonged diurnal cooling and temperatures bottoming out near -8F. The rest of the region will still likely have ambient air temperatures near or below zero, combined with 10 to 20 mph wind (not including gusts) will lead to wind chills as low as -25 degrees tonight into Monday. The Extreme Cold Warning will continue through the late morning hours.

Tomorrow will begin to see some clearing as dry air moves in and winds veer to the W and then SW due to another passing weak wave to the north. This wave will enhance the pressure gradient over the area keeping winds brisk, especially tonight into tomorrow morning with gusts in the 25 to 35 MPH range. This with near to below zero temperatures will once again create very dangerous wind chill at -20 or below, prompting a second Extreme Cold Warning for tonight and Tuesday morning.

LONG TERM (Tuesday through Sunday)

Issued at 255 AM EST Mon Jan 26 2026

The long term will remain cold with numerous days still seeing dangerous wind chills. Models are in good agreement with the current troughing pattern continuing with persistent northwesterly flow aloft and a few clipper systems may passing to our north.

At the start and end of the period, high temperatures in the 20s are expected but otherwise highs will largely stay in the teens. Overnight lows are forecasted to be below zero each night through the end of the week with probable improvement to above zero this weekend. Combined with winds, nightly wind chills of -10 to -20 are possible. The lowest wind chills look to be early Tuesday morning which has prompted a extreme cold warning with wind chills as low as -25. Tuesday night to Wednesday morning will see surface high pressure, clear skies, relatively light wind in addition to a deep snowpack. This will create optimal radiative cooling conditions and thus expecting the lowest actual temps for the period of likely widespread -5 to -10 degrees and can't rule out wind chills again as low as -25.

While much of the long term looks to be dry with the nearby influence of high pressure, it typically doesn't take much energy in these very cold temps to produce isolated or periodic flurries. Best chance for light snow could be late Wednesday, but those chances seem low at the moment.

AVIATION (06Z TAF Issuance)

Issued at 1229 AM EST Mon Jan 26 2026

Impacts:

- Intermittent MVFR ceilings tonight - Blowing snow at times tonight

Discussion:

Ceilings will bounce between MVFR and low VFR due to clouds off the lake. Within these clouds light snow with VFR VIS is possible. Occasional gusts overnight could also lead to periods of blowing snow with MVFR VIS overnight. VFR conditions should return this morning as clouds begin to clear.

As stated winds may gust occasionally overnight, but should remain stable at around 7-10kt out of the W/NW. Winds will slowly veer to the W and then SW later today. Gusty conditions will return overnight within SW flow topping out around 25kt.

IND WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Winter Storm Warning until 7 AM EST this morning for INZ021- 028>031-035>049-051>057-060>065-067>072.

Extreme Cold Warning until 11 AM EST this morning for INZ021- 028>031-035>039-043>047-051>054-060-061-067-068.

Extreme Cold Warning from 7 PM this evening to 9 AM EST Tuesday for INZ021-028>031-035>049-051>057-060>065-067>072.

Cold Weather Advisory from 11 AM this morning to 7 PM EST this evening for INZ021-028>031-035>039-043>047-051>054-060-061-067- 068.

Cold Weather Advisory from 9 AM to noon EST Tuesday for INZ021- 028>031-035>049-051>057-060>065-067>072.

Cold Weather Advisory until 7 PM EST this evening for INZ040>042- 048-049-055>057-062>065-069>072.