Expect blowing snow tonightBlowing snow and slick roads will make for a treacherous drive home
today.
A blustery northwest wind with gusts up to 25 mph is blowing through
Indianapolis this evening and could cause white-out conditions on some
roads, according to the National Weather Service.
Forecasters say there's a 40 percent chance of new snowfall tonight, but
forecasters predict there should be little accumulation.
The low will dip to about 13 degrees.
Marion, Hancock, Hamilton, Madison, Hendricks, Morgan, Johnson and
Shelby are among 31 counties that remain under a winter weather advisory
until 7 p.m. The Weather Service is warning motorists to "be extremely
cautious when traveling."
Indiana State Police Sgt. Anthony Emery also warned drivers to use
caution on a day that saw dozens of crashes throughout the Indianapolis
area, including a 34-vehicle pileup on southbound I-69 in Hamilton
County that killed two people.
State police re-opened the northbound lanes of I-69 at about 4 p.m., but
the southbound lanes remained closed, Emery said.
"We are asking all motorists to use extra caution when traveling through
this area," Emery said in a statement. "There are still a lot of slick
spots on the roadway."
Call Star reporter Vic Ryckaert at (317) 444-2761.
http://www.indystar.com/article/20090203/NEWS/902030582 die, 11 hurt in 31-vehicle crash on I-69FISHERS, Ind. – At least two people died and 11 were seriously injured today after a crash involving at least 31 vehicles -- including nine semis -- on southbound I-69 in Hamilton County, the state police said.
Indiana State Police Sgt. Rod Russell said about 1 p.m. that multiple accidents after a morning snowstorm had shut down around 45 miles of southbound I-69 from the Alexandria exit in Delaware County through Indianapolis.
Also, roughly 35 miles of northbound I-69 from Indianapolis to the Daleville exit, also in Delaware County, had been closed by 1 p.m. because of multiple crashes and slide-offs.
By 5:15 p.m. the northbound lanes of I-69 reopened, according to Sgt. Anthony D. Emery of the state police, but the southbound lanes remained closed.
"We are asking all motorists to use extra caution when traveling through this area," Emery said in an e-mail. "There are still a lot of slick spots on the roadway."
Mike Burns, a spokesman for the State Police post at Pendleton, said 11 people were taken to hospitals from the crash that occurred about 9 a.m. At least three of the 11 had been trapped in their vehicles, according to Ron Lipps, a Fishers Fire Department spokesman. Five other people had minor injuries and refused treatment at the crash site, Burns said.
Burns said I-69 was closed into the night because of a limited number of tow trucks to remove vehicles from the scene. Many vehicles remained in heaps on the road by sundown around 6 p.m.
Fishers Police Department spokesman Sgt. Gerry Hepp said 25 survivors of the crash on southbound I-69 were taken to the police station for interviews with the state police.
“I’ve never seen anything like it ... in my 18 years in Fishers.” Hepp said.
The identities of the two who died were not available.
In addition, Hepp said, a person in a Ford Escape was trapped for 80 minutes under a semi trailer, with temperatures in the lower teens, but was rescued and taken to a Fishers emergency room before being moved to Methodist Hospital. The person, who was not identified, was in critical condition, he said.
Hepp said snow brought near white-out conditions during the crash. A Fishers firetruck looking for an inverted vehicle had stopped to assist another vehicle, which may have started the chain-reaction crash, he said.
Indiana State Police Sgt. Anthony Emery said weather conditions, speed and drivers following too closely caused the crash. It started when two vehicles hit a firetruck helping a motorist on the roadside, Emery said.
Lipps sent a text alert within minutes of the fatal crash about 10 miles from I-465: "We have multiple entrapment, injuries."
Within an hour of the crash, police used spray paint to mark numbers on vehicles to try to keep count and determine their order in the crash.
State police offered to take stranded motorists to Fishers High School, but none accepted the offer, according to Lipps. The firefighter who was in the initial crashes was not injured, he said.
Northward on I-69 in Madison County, two separate crashes on southbound I-69, both at 10:06 a.m. near Pendleton, also involved multiple vehicles, Burns said.
About a mile north of the Pendleton/Noblesville exit for Ind. 38, two people were hurt in a crash of 27 vehicles. About a mile south of the same interchange, no one was hurt in an 11-vehicle crash.
Earlier: Snow snarls Indianapolis traffic, closes part of I-65
Dozens of traffic accidents spawned by the morning snowstorm snarled Indianapolis area traffic, including at least four wrecks that blocked interstate highways to the north and south of Indianapolis.
Most roads in the Indianapolis area were clear of snow when the morning began, finally passable after last week’s major storm. Then, just after 7 a.m., the troublesome snow returned.
“There are some fairly impressive snow showers out there,” said National Weather Service forecaster Joseph Nield. “It’s like flipping a switch.”
At 8 a.m., the National Weather Service recorded two inches of fresh snow had fallen. It was 3.2 inches at 9 a.m. and 3.7 inches at 10 a.m.
Morning commuters found their drive went from clear to near-whiteout in what seemed like an instant. By 8 a.m., Indiana State Police at the Indianapolis post said there had been around 30 wrecks and slide-offs on interstate highways in their district, a number that started to resemble the crash total from last week’s storms.
The sudden snow accumulation led the National Weather Service to issue a winter weather advisory for the southeastern quarter of Indiana, including Indianapolis.
Indiana State Police handled several wrecks that closed inbound interstate highways. On I-65 in Johnson County, it was at the Whiteland interchange, closing northbound traffic. To the north in Boone County, it was a pair of crashes near Zionsville at the 133 mile marker. In Hendricks County, it was on I-74 near the Marion County line.
At the City-County Building, deputy mayor Olgen Williams said he had made it across town through the snow, but he had slowed down. “It came down fast,” said Williams, referring to the heavy snow that blanketed the area in three hours. “I saw a lot of people dealing with it, but no one gave me the finger.”
Some roads in the area had salt pre-applied in anticipation of the snow, but the weather overwhelmed that work.
One consolation for those slipping and sliding to work is that this snowfall could have been worse, as in 1982, when the Feb. 3 snowfall record of 6.5 inches was set in 1982.
Temperatures this weekend will soar into the 40s, which will cause most of our current snow to melt. Combined with potential weekend rain, the Weather Service is advising that there could be some flooding this weekend, because the ground already is saturated from the snow.
Star reporter Robert Annis and photographer Jeri Reichanadter contributed to this report.
Call Star reporter Kevin O’Neal at (317) 444-6304
http://www.indystar.com/article/20090203/LOCAL/90203006Okay. I'll stop bitching about the weather now. I promise!
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