County and city crews work to keep streets, roads clear
By JESSICA BRICKER
and DAVE SCHULTZ
Even as Wells County fell under an orange travel watch status Thursday, city and county workers vowed to continue the effort to keep thoroughfares open.
Government offices, schools, and many businesses shut down due to the winter storm, which dumped varying amounts of snow on northeast Indiana, southwest lower Michigan, and northwest Ohio Wednesday and Thursday.
A report from several unspecified sources on the National Weather Service website for northern Indiana said that 8.8 inches of snow fell during what the NWS office referred to as a “double-barreled” storm — heavy wet snow on Wednesday and light dry snow on Thursday.
Neil Ainslie, the official NWS observer for Wells County, listed 1.5 inches of snow on Wednesday and another 4.3 inches of snow on Thursday, for a total of 5.8 inches over the two days.
“This agrees with the low end of the National Weather Service’s forecast for moisture (rain and snow),” Ainslie added in the report of his observations. The fact that the snow was delayed by heavy rain Wednesday, with snowfall not starting until late in the afternoon, cut into the snowfall total, he said. He figured the rain took 5 to 6 inches away from the original high snowfall estimate forecasted by the NWS.
Rain changed to snow in Wells County between 1:30 and 4 p.m. Wednesday, going from north to south, Ainslie said.
However, a winter storm warning remained in place until 1 a.m. Friday. All three public school systems switched to e-learning for Friday.
Reported snow amounts in northeast Indiana included 13 inches at Leo-Cedarville on the high end but only 3.5 inches in Portland and 3 inches in Markle, according to the NWS area website.
As of Thursday afternoon, Wells, Grant and Blackford counties were orange, according to the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, meaning “that conditions are threatening to the safety of the public. During a ‘watch’ local travel advisory, only essential travel, such as to and from work or in emergency situations, is recommended, and emergency action plans should be implemented by businesses, schools, government agencies, and other organizations.”
Huntington, Whitley, Allen, Adams and Jay were in red “warning” status. That is “the highest level of local travel advisory, means that travel may be restricted to emergency management workers only.” Individuals should refrain from all travel under such a status.
Wells went orange at 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to the IDHS website.
Shawn Bonar, superintendent of the Wells County Highway Department, said crews had been on the roads from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. both Wednesday and Thursday, making two plowing runs across the county. He said trucks would be stationed overnight, ready to roll if needed, at the Uniondale and Chester Township fire stations and at the county highway garage on Bluffton’s west side. He expected to follow that same schedule of daytime plowing on Friday.
The only problems experienced by county crews were related to hydraulic line failures in some trucks, but they were quickly repaired. “We have excellent mechanics,” he said.
Bluffton Utilities crews followed the protocols that were announced Tuesday, Street Commissioner Tim Simpson said, even getting work done on secondary streets on Thursday as the snowfall continued. He said Thursday afternoon that crews may make a second pass on secondary roads before ending work in the evening.
Simpson said areas on the west and north edges of the city, in front of the wind, caused crews the most problems.
The snow fell a little more than a year after a major winter storm that occurred on Jan. 31, 2021, where 5.1 inches of snow was recorded in Bluffton by Ainslie.
jessica@news-banner.com
daves@news-banner.com
