Winter Storm — Orange, Indiana

2021-02-10 to 2021-02-11 · Orange, Indiana

Event narrative

Heavy sleet resulted in significant impacts. 1 to 1.5 inches of sleet made roads nearly impassable according to the Emergency Manager. There were multiple accidents on US Hwy 150, and state roads through Paoli, IN were covered with sleet. Up to an inch of snow fell in addition to the sleet.

Wider weather episode

An arctic airmass was centered over the northern Plains, and Kentucky and southern Indiana were positioned directly along a volatile boundary between the arctic air mass and a warm and moist tropical airmass associated with the Gulf of Mexico. The vertical temperature profile was ideal for the formation of freezing rain. The arctic air wedged itself beneath a warm and moist layer aloft. As energy associated with the jet stream passed over the Ohio Valley, a mix of wintry precipitation occurred. A large swath of freezing rain occurred, stretching mainly west to east across Kentucky. To the north, a small area of sleet occurred in around Louisville and into southern Indiana.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 942547. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.