Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Say good-bye to the mild winter. At least for now.
According to the National Weather Service Web site, Sunday temperatures topped out in the middle 40s in the northwest part of Indiana - 56 degrees in Warsaw - to the middle 60s in the southeast part of the state.
A cold front moved in by Monday morning, causing temperatures to fall. By late Monday afternoon, temperatures were in the mid-30s over northwest Indiana and in the mid-50s in the south. Rain followed, turning into snow as the temperatures fell.
NWS is calling for occasional snow today, with additional snow accumulation of 3 to 6 inches.
Temperatures will be steady or falling into the 20s with a brisk northwest wind 15 to 25 mph.
Tonight, the NWS is predicting more snow with additional accumulation of 1 to 2 inches, for storm totals of 8 to 16 inches. Lows will be in the mid-teens.
Tomorrow, light snow is likely through the early afternoon, then partly cloudy. Light additional accumulation is possible and highs will be in the mid-20s. Wednesday night will be mostly clear with lows near 10 degrees.
Snow also is possible Thursday through Sunday with highs in the 20s.
How is the weather affecting road conditions?
Dennis Pletcher, Kosciusko County Highway Department road supervisor, said the county road plowing is "not too bad today." He said they always have some problems around the lake areas because of the drives and have had some mechanical failures, but the work is still going well.
When there are mechanical problems, he said, he and the foreman try to keep spare trucks around to save on downtime.
Officially, snowplowing began around 4 a.m. today but some of the highway department crews started sooner.
The roads today are slushy and the snow and slush are sticking to the plows, he said.
There are more than 1,200 miles of county road to plow, he said, and the county is broken up into 26 plow routes. Each driver has a starting and stopping point so all the roads will get plowed in the 8-1/2-hour work day.
One of the problems for the highway department, Pletcher said, was, "Today, it started so wet and snowing so hard, we couldn't put any sand down because it would just get covered.
"The guys are all working hard and have experience. They're giving it their all."
While the plows were out a couple others times this winter, Pletcher said, "This is our first big one of the year. The guys have handled it pretty well."
He asked that as the plows clean the county roads, drivers be patient with them. "Everyone complains if the roads aren't plowed but they don't give you an inch (on the road)."
Kosciusko County Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine said drivers need to slow down and pay attention to the road and to other drivers. Drivers need to give themselves more room to slow down when approaching stops.
He said there haven't been many accidents on the roads, although some people have slid off the roads.
For more weather information on the weather, visit www.crh.noaa.gov/iwx
