ANDERSON — It came, it fell and it’s coming back.
Just as Madison County snow crews had gotten the roads cleared and motorists unstuck, forecasters began predicting at least 6 inches of snow to fall between Monday night and Wednesday.
“That would cause some of what we have already gone through, and probably worse because this is going to be a more powdery snow,” said meteorologist Mike Koch, of the Indiana Weather Service.
Snow crews and authorities worked throughout Friday night and into Saturday morning clearing roads and helping stranded motorists, hindered even more by severe drifting late Friday.
“The biggest problem was the wind because that hampered early results,” said City Emergency Management director Frank Dick of the 16 mph to 25 mph winds that blew snow back onto plowed roads. He said the highest recorded wind gust through the night was 37 mph.
Madison County Sheriff Ron Richardson said county dispatchers handled a total of 1,332 calls from 1 p.m. Friday until about 7 p.m. Saturday. Most of the calls were for stranded motorists, including about 25 to 30 vehicles and three semi tractor trailers that spent the night stranded on Indiana 37.
“The deputies were originally sent to assist motorists that got stuck, (and) then they got stuck, then the motorists got stuck behind them,” the sheriff said of Deputies Brett Wright and James Sundheimer.
Volunteers, the sheriff said, played a large role in the Indiana 37 incident and snow removal.
Madison County Highway Department workers have been on 12-hour shifts since midnight Thursday, said Madison County Commissioner Paul Wilson.
“They’ll stay on those shifts until the roads are clear,” he said.
No travel levels were elevated until early Saturday morning. Madison County was issued a travel warning – requesting only essential emergency personnel to be on the roads – until 8 p.m., when it was lowered to a travel watch – urging motorists to stay in doors when possible. Wilson said the county probably won’t step down to a travel advisory – telling motorists to be careful – until Sunday.
The City of Anderson issued a travel warning from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m., when it was lowered to a travel advisory, Dick said.
Wilson said the coming snow will most likely require crews to scoop up piles of already plowed snow to prevent impossible drifting.
“Fasten your seat belt — it looks like we’re going to get another round,” Dick said.
Contact Christina M. Wright, 640-4883, christina.wright@heraldbulletin.com.
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