ANOTHER ROUND OF SNOW IN FORECAST
First punch expected to drop 3 to 6 inches; the second, well, it depends ...
Tired of the snow? Don’t put that shovel away just yet.
More is expected to fall this weekend — but just how much snow will depend on where you are, as well as the final path of the system currently dumping torrential rains on California, according to the National Weather Service.
And despite the fact that spring is less than three weeks away, persistent cold weather patterns expected to continue this month mean this may not even be the last snowfall of the season.
“It’ll kind of depend on where you are in Northwest Indiana,” said Richard Castro, meteorologist with the National Weather Service Chicago office in Romeoville, Ill., of the latest snowfall event expected to hit the region over the weekend.
Two different systems are expected bring snow as they pass through.
“At this point it looks like there will be a good period of snow probably starting (Saturday) evening and continuing into the overnight hours,” Castro said.
The second system moves through Sunday morning and, depending on its path, will either add to the overnight snowfall totals in Northwest Indiana or miss the ma- jority of the region, dropping its snow south of the Kankakee River.
Castro said the first system is expected to drop 3 inches to 6 inches overnight Saturday and only light snow in Lake and Porter counties Sunday unless the storm tracks north.
“It looks like there will be a good accumulating snow down across Newton and Jasper counties down into Benton County,” Castro said.
Even if the storm tracks south, Lake and Porter counties could see additional lake-effect snowfall. Both systems come with conditions that could feed off Lake Michigan mois- ture, he said.
Any snowfall will just add to the mounting totals being racked up throughout the region. Castro said snowfall reporting is not complete enough in Lake and Porter counties to provide an accurate picture of how the 2013-14 snow season compares to past seasons.
A cooperative observation site five miles north of Valparaiso has been collecting data since 2003, Castro said. This year, 12.6 inches was reported in December, 34.9 inches in January and 16.9 inches in February. The February amount does not include the snowfall from Feb. 17, which was another 5 to 6 inches, he said.
That brings the year-to-date total to about 70 inches. A whopping total for sure, but a record? Not likely. Snowfall in 2007-08 was 82.2 inches.
This does appear to be a record year for snowfall at the Rensselaer observation point. The center has been collecting data since 1907, though there are several gaps in data in the 1930s, ’40s and ’70s. So far, 52.9 inches have been recorded. The next highest snowfall season was 1996-97 with 47.6 inches.
Marcus Malczewski, superintendent of the Lake County Highway Department, has been keeping the county’s roads clear since 1962. Malczewski said this has been a snowy winter but not the worst.
“We’ve seen some bad winters. I can’t remember such a prolonged cold spell. That stands out,” he said.
This year the department has spent more than two and a half times the season average in overtime, fuel and supplies and the costs just keep climbing. Overtime typically costs $89,000 in a given season. So far this season the department has spent $215,000.
“The dollar figures are just incredible,” Malczewski said.
“I keep thinking, ‘Oh, my goodness gracious. How much longer will this go on?’ ”