Heavy Snow — Tippecanoe, Indiana

2025-11-29 · Tippecanoe, Indiana

Event narrative

Snowfall ranged from 4.7 to 8.0 inches. A Travel Advisory was issued for the county due to the impacts of snow on road conditions.

Wider weather episode

An early winter storm system intensified and occluded while tracking from Kansas to the Quad Cities area from the morning to late evening of the 29th. Accumulating snow overspread northwestern and far-northern central Indiana early in the morning, and far-western zones by midday, yet a very dry 750-850 mb layer delayed the onset of snow for much of the remaining region until late afternoon. A burst of moderate to heavy snow crossed central Indiana through the early evening, with lingering light snow then changing to light rain/drizzle from south to north through the mid-evening amid the system's northward-advancing warm frontal zone.

Snowfall reached 5.0-inch criteria over eleven northwest to far-northern central Indiana counties during the late day to early evening, with observations as great as 7.0-8.0 inches along a heavier band from the Lafayette area to northwestern Howard County. The lag in snow onset through the afternoon produced a gradient in storm total snowfall between northern and central zones; mainly 1-3 inch totals across the Indianapolis Metro were led by a 3.1-inch report in northeastern Hendricks County, while 1.7 inches was the official measurement for Indianapolis, a daily record. Despite only lighter snowfall totals, numerous traffic accidents occurred along the Interstate Route 70 corridor: in Vigo County around 1530 EST, car accidents on Interstate 70 near mile marker 15 closed all westbound lanes with no major injuries; in Putnam County, a 45-vehicle pileup occurred on Interstate 70 near Putnamville with no major injuries; in Marion County around 1940 EST, an accident on northbound Interstate Route 465 near mile marker 14 injured a state trooper inside his car; authorities reported several other traffic tie-ups in portions of north central Indiana prior to 1900 EST.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1296857. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.