Snow storm starts with a whimper but strengthens during the morning

Staff reports
·3 min read
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LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Wednesday's forecasted 4 to 8 inches of snow started slowly, almost apologetically by comparison to its famed big brother, the Blizzard of 1978, which started on the same day 45 years ago.

The snowy morning commute turned out to be fairly normal with just a few accidents and a few slide-offs reported.

"We are normal operations," Tippecanoe County Commissioner Tracy Brown said about 8 a.m. Wednesday. "I think we're in pretty good shape."

County road crews began about 4 a.m. by spreading sand at intersections, followed by pushing snow, Brown said.

"If folks would just slow down, we'll be OK," Brown said.

"What's really helped us — the temperatures," Brown said. "The temperature overnight was going to be a steady 33 degrees."

That's warm enough for road de-icing products to do their jobs.

Snow accumulates on a statue, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in Lafayette, Ind.
Snow accumulates on a statue, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in Lafayette, Ind.

There were no travel restrictions for the county as of noon Wednesday.

By 11 a.m. Wednesday, the snowflakes appeared chunkier and fell faster, even though the accumulation had not yet matched the expectations of many seasoned first responders.

"We still have a lot of snow out west of us coming our way," Tippecanoe County Emergency Management Director Smokey Anderson said with a cautionary tone.

More:J&C FLASHBACK: The blizzard of 1978

More:Blizzard of 1978: A look back on the storm's effects in Tippecanoe County

However, by 1 p.m. Wednesday, the snowfall slowed, and radar indicated the strongest part of the storm was several counties northeast of Tippecanoe County.

About 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, texts and emails from school districts brought the joyful news that students got the day off from classes.

Tippecanoe County sheriff's Chief Deputy Terry Ruley reported about 8:15 a.m. Wednesday that they only had two minor accidents and one slide-off mishap.

More:Where to find weather-related cancelations

About the same time, Lafayette police reported only two accidents, Lafayette police Lt. Justin Hartman said.

By about 9:40 a.m. Wednesday, West Lafayette police reported only two minor traffic accidents and one slideoff.

By 11 a.m. Wednesday, only eight Tippecanoe County TIPMONT customers were without power in the southern part of the county, according to TIPMONT's website. There were no Duke Energy customers without power, according to its website.

Staying ahead of the storm

As of about noon Wednesday, no snow emergency was declared in Lafayette, but West Lafayette wasted little time responding to the predicted snow accumulation. The city declared a snow emergency at 9:15 p.m. Tuesday — hours before the first snowflake fell.

"The City of West Lafayette expects a significant winter storm that may bring 6-8 inches of snow accumulation," the announcement stated. "The storm is expected to impact travel, making it very difficult to drive, extreme caution should be taken."

Based on West Lafayette ordinances, the emergency requires that all vehicles, trailers and equipment parked on all emergency snow routes be removed by the owner until the road has been cleared. A snow emergency has been declared and is in effect.

West Lafayette also provided a link to the emergency snow routes and its full snow plowing policies during a winter storm event.

Lafayette's snow removal policies, as well as its emergency routes, can be found on its website.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Snow storm starts with a whimper but strengthens during the morning