The sun may be shining today, but a winter storm will soon be making its way through Indiana.
How much ice and snow it will bring to Brown County remains unclear.
According to the last update from the National Weather Service rain will begin Wednesday afternoon and will turn to freezing rain and sleet beginning at 10 p.m. before snow moves in Thursday morning.
“That is still in flux. It still depends on the temperature,” said Brown County Emergency Management Agency Director Susan Armstrong.
The latest update from NWS at 12:30 p.m. shows Brown County getting between 3 to 8 inches of snow.
The county is expected to receive more snow and less ice than what was previously predicted, but ice is still in the forecast, Armstrong said.
NWS has “high confidence” that this storm will impact residents and travel. People are encouraged to stay home Thursday if they do not have to be out on the roads.
“It will be a very heavy snow,” Armstrong said.
“We’re going to see trees coming down. There will also be some wind gusts coming through with this.”
So, in short, expect power outages, too.
The outages could be extended too as power company trucks also have to navigate possible ice- and snow-covered roads.
“We are doing all that we can do to be prepared for whatever happens with this. We’re asking that the community be prepared as well,” Armstrong said.
Preparing for the unexpected is the theme for this winter storm — the first of the season.
With the temperature reaching almost 60 degrees today it could affect what kind precipitation falls or sticks to the ground.
“It will be right up until it starts falling that we’re still figuring out,” Armstrong said.
This morning, Brown County Highway Superintendent Mike Magner reported his crews are on standby to respond to the winter weather.
Supplies are stocked, like salt and sand, but Magner said roads cannot be treated before any winter weather begins due to the rain.
“In our terrain where it is hilly it will wash off. We’ll have to keep a close eye on it and when it moves from rain to something else we will hit the roads at that point,” he said.
Magner said his employees will test all of their equipment today and tomorrow morning.
“We’re as ready to go as we can be,” he said.
The highway department also has contract drivers ready to respond and clear roads using county equipment.
As winter weather hits the area, Magner encouraged residents to stay home if possible.
“If we do end up with ice and snow Wednesday into Thursday stay off the roads and out of our way,” Magner said.
“If you get stuck and we can’t get our trucks through then we can’t get out to treat the roads.”
Temperatures are also expected to fall as this system works through the state, which could cause issues with putting salt on the roads since it will not work when the temperature is in the single digits.
As far as reporting or getting updates on road conditions, the county highway department does not have the capability yet to receive live updates on the conditions for individual roads, Magner said.
And residents are discouraged from calling the sheriff’s department dispatch to report road conditions or get updates on the roads since dispatchers will be responding to other calls for help.
The Brown County Democrat will share a post to Facebook on Thursday morning to help residents track road conditions here.
Once crews get started clearing roads, Magner said all paved roads will be treated first followed by the gravel roads since they require different equipment.
If snow continues for several hours, Magner said crews will have to treat the main thoroughfare roads multiple times before moving to secondary paved roads and then to gravel roads.
EMA will declare any travel advisories following the storm. The Brown County Democrat will share those online and on social media.
If you have a closing or cancellation to report as a result of the storm in the forecast please email [email protected].
Once the snow falls and you have a photo of kids sledding or a snowman they built that you want to share, send them our way. Email them to [email protected] for consideration for publication in next week’s paper and to be included in a gallery online.
