Indy residents will need to keep their thick coats, gloves and windshield brushes handy as forecasters predict more snow and the coldest temperatures of the winter this week.

Jason Puma, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Indianapolis, said the chance of snow Friday afternoon is about 90% and will likely continue into the evening. The service is forecasting about 1 to 2 inches of snow for the Indy metropolitan area.

Before that, however, central Indiana residents will experience the lowest temperatures of the winter. NWS meteorologists expect a low of 1 degree tonight, the coldest since last January, Puma said.

“This system (on Friday) doesn’t appear to be as strong as the system we just experienced, so the amounts of snow we get will be significantly less,” Puma said.

While Indy is spared from another major snowfall, other areas of the U.S. are expecting up to 6 inches of snow from a second winter storm, according to a recent report from AccuWeather.

The temperatures remain below freezing

Indy will still experience freezing temperatures throughout the week, meaning the snow on the ground won’t melt before Friday’s predicted snowfall.

Snow can compact as it sits on the ground and allow some of it to evaporate, Puma said, which would shrink the amount on the ground somewhat. However, to see it melt completely, temperatures must rise above 32 degrees.

Cloudy skies forecast for Thursday evening will warm things slightly, with NWS meteorologists predicting lows around 11 degrees.

The US is experiencing the winter effects of La Niña – a wind pattern in the Pacific Ocean that pushes warm air towards Asia while bringing colder water to the surface. These colder waters push the jet stream north, which tends to result in more storm systems in the Ohio Valley more frequently.

The Indy area averages about 25 inches of snow each year, but in recent years there has been an El Niño pattern that has meant less snowfall.

Indiana weather radar

Karl Schneider is an IndyStar environmental reporter. You can reach him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @karlstartswithk or BlueSky @karlstartswithk.bsky.social

IndyStar’s environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.

This article originally appeared on the Indianapolis Star: The Indianapolis area is facing bitterly cold temperatures and more snow this week.