Dangerous wind chills forecast for this morning, as snow cleanup continues

Many residents were taken by surprise when the first significant snowfall of winter fell across Bartholomew County Thursday night and Friday morning.

At 7 a.m. Friday, the Wastewater Treatment Plant in Columbus reported 2 inches of snow on the ground. At least one additional inch fell before the snowfall moved out of our region by 10 a.m., according to Bryan Burton, director of public works for the City of Columbus.

While a small amount of additional snow may fall Saturday, the most dangerous weather-related concern will be the wind chills, Columbus Police spokesman Lt. Matt Harris said.

With wind chills colder than 15 below zero possible, the National Weather Service issued a wind chill advisory in effect from 7 p.m. Friday evening until 10 a.m. Saturday.

“The wind chill can be more dangerous than the snow,” Harris said. Meteorologists warn the wind chills could result in hypothermia if precautions are not taken.

The number of slide-offs in Columbus Friday morning was described by Harris as minimal. There were no reports of accidents causing injuries, he said.

But officers have been checking abandoned vehicles to make sure nobody is inside them, Harris said.

Another concern through Saturday will be a reduction in visibility due to blowing snow, Bartholomew County Highway Engineer Danny Hollander said.

“It’s a dry snow and it’s blowing when you plow it,” Hollander said. “It goes up in the air, instead of being pushed aside, and can make a cloud of dry snow.”

Since south central Indiana recently emerged from a spell of extremely cold temperatures, Bartholomew County Emergency Management Shannan Cooke said she believe most local residents will take the wind chill advisory seriously.

Much like the city, rural areas of Bartholomew County only experienced a few accidents and slide-offs by the time the snow ended Friday, Cooke said.

The fact that Bartholomew Consolidated students were home Friday on an eLearning day, while the Flat Rock-Hawcreek Schools were closed, helped to decrease the number of vehicles on streets and roads, Harris said.

Another reason why there were fewer accidents was that many adults chose not to take any chances and work from home via the internet, he said.

A number of Columbus residents were left wondering why a number of main thoroughfares in Columbus were still snow-covered during their morning drive to work Friday.

The first road crews were sent out at 3 a.m. Friday morning, with other crews began plowing on an hourly basis, Burton said.

“But it just continued to snow,” Burton said. “While salt was put down at intersections, (road crews) weren’t going the entire distance because the salt would have just come off with the next plowing.”

In addition, the City Garage experienced some mechanical issues with some of their trucks, he said.

“Normally, we would have had all these bugs worked out in December or early January,” Burton said. “But it is very rare that we have to wait until late in the season for our first significant snow.”

While the Bartholomew County Highway Department did not have mechanical problems, Hollander said they did have several new people behind the plows. Friday’s snow was just serious enough to give them valuable experience for the stronger winter storms that could be ahead, he said.

Burton said the plan was for his city crews to “hit it hard” and work into Friday evening, in order to clear secondary streets before the bitterly cold wind chills turned melted precipitation into black ice.

“It’s not over until you see absolutely dry pavement, so just be careful,” Burton advised.

Variable cloudiness is expected Sunday, with a high in the upper 20s. The Accuweather forecast for south central Indiana is calling for daily highs in the 40s during the upcoming five-day work week.