NWS: Heavy Winter Snow in Indiana

STATEWIDE — Heavy winter snow is blanketing Indiana Sunday morning, leaving people to contend with treacherous roads and cold temperatures.

Alexander McGinnis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Indianapolis, says the state is currently in the thick of a significant weather event, with snowfall rates hitting between half an inch to an inch every hour. While the snow is expected to slacken by midday and wind down to flurries by this evening, the impact is already historic in some areas.

McGinnis noted that the southern third of the state is bearing the brunt of the storm, with reports of 8 to 10 inches already on the ground from Bloomington to Washington County.

The amount of snow and frigid temperatures is creating a unique challenge for road crews.

“Given the lower temperatures, you would generally expect salt to be not as effective and snowplows will probably be focusing on the primary roads a little more than usual,” McGinnis explained. “We just had a little more than seven inches officially in Indianapolis as of 7 a.m. We’ll probably see a total of 11 or 12 at least across the Indy metro and even more to the south. The higher amounts of snow and the lower temperatures will lead to plows probably not getting to the secondary and tertiary streets until later than usual.”

For those who venture out, the message from the National Weather Service is one of extreme caution. McGinnis urges drivers to stay off the roads, if possible, but if travel is unavoidable, he says to prepare for a commute that could take three to four times longer than usual. The danger won’t end when the flakes stop falling, either; as the sky clears Sunday night, the temperature is expected to plummet. With a thick, fresh snowpack acting as an insulator, lows are forecasted to drop between 0 and -5 degrees across much of the state, making for a dangerously cold start to the work week.