03-02-2007Between 7 and 9 a.m. today, Kosciusko County officers responded to 18 accidents due to slippery conditions.
As of 10 a.m. today, only two of those accidents resulted in injuries, and none of the injuries were serious, said Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department Public Information officer Chad Hill.
“I don’t think people realized how slick it was out there,” Hill said. “There was a thin layer of ice under the snow that made the conditions slippery.”
Rains Thursday made the roadways wet, and falling temperatures left a layer of ice that was quickly covered with snow early this morning. Blowing winds and more snow caused some white-out conditions and made travel hazardous.
“Basically, in all the counties we service – St. Joseph, Elkhart, Marshall and Kosciusko – our officers have their hands full. Since they came on at 6 a.m., they have been working accidents and slide-offs,” said Indiana State Police Public Information officer Trent Smith.
When asked what advice they had for travelers who had to be out in conditions like this morning, both Hill and Smith said the same thing: “Slow down.”
“The snow is spotty in areas, but there are some white-out conditions. The road conditions are bad at this time,” Smith said around 10 a.m. today.
“There is not a lot of accumulation, but blowing is the main cause of many of the accidents.
“Just slow down. Plan double the amount of time you need to get where you are going. If you must go out, give yourself plenty of time to get there. A large majority of the accidents this morning would not have happened if people had just slowed down.”
“It is extremely slick with that layer of ice under the snow,” Hill said. “Give the car in front of you plenty of room. Give yourself plenty of braking space. Look for an exit if you start to slide so you can try to avoid a collision with another vehicle.”
Hill also advised people to make sure their windows are clean so they can see the road clearly and make sure headlights are on so they can be seen by other vehicles.
According to Mike Sabonis, meteorologist at the National Weather Service, North Webster, light snow should continue throughout today and this evening, but accumulations are not expected. The forecasted high is in the mid- to upper-30s.
“It will be windy,” Sabonis said. “Winds of 25 to 30 miles per hour with gusts as high as 45 miles per hour are expected.”
Although the snowy weather was forecasted this morning, Sabonis said he thought some people were surprised by it.
“I think it caught people off guard,” Sabonis said. “With the mild wet weather yesterday and the cold winter weather with scattered snow this morning, they were not prepared for slippery roads.”
Sabonis said patchy areas of snow will continue throughout the day.
However, with temperatures warming up to the mid-30s today and cold temperatures expected again tonight, tomorrow morning’s driving conditions could be much like the ones this morning.
“Be careful, it may get slippery,” Sabonis said.