Winter Storm Underwhelms, Leaving Snow, Ice, Frustration

Snowstorm Landon, the epic 2000-mile-wide snowstorm that was predicted to blanket much of the country in a foot of snow and ice, has blown through, falling short of the dire predictions being made beforehand.

The National Weather Service (NWS) reported 7.6 inches of snow fell on the greater Indianapolis area between Feb. 1 and Feb 4. The record for snowfall in Indianapolis by Feb. 4 came in 1982, when the city received 14.6 inches of snowfall.

Hamilton County Sheriff Dennish Quakenbush confirmed that there haven’t been any fatal crashes or major incidents reported in the last 48 hours, saying, “We responded to 33 traffic hazards, which includes cars sliding off the road or into ditches, and we responded to.9 crashes, none of which had any serious injuries.”

Hamilton County Commissioner Mark Heirbrandt spoke of how Hamilton County’s response ultimately dampened the effects of the storm, saying, “I’m really proud of all our departments, our Emergency Management Administration (EMA) had multiple meetings…and they worked closely with all our towns and cities and did the best job they could.” He went on to say, “Our facilities guys and highway guys did a fantastic job. The county is now back on yellow (travel advisory) and most of the roads look pretty good.”

Sheriff Quakenbush went on to give a clearer picture of road conditions in the county, saying, “The roads are passable, the county and cities have cleared primary roads and streets…On some of the northernmost roads, we’re still seeing some blowing and drifting, and obviously we want people to exercise caution while driving, but overall things look pretty good.”

Noblesville Street Department Commissioner Patty Johnson gave an update on their progress cleaing roads, saying, “The main roads are looking pretty good. Right now, we are in the subdivisions, working on primary and secondary roads there, which means any neighborhood streets besides cul-de-sacs, and we’re at 25-30% of the way done and we are going to try get those finished before the night shift.” This comment was as of 12:05 p.m. on Fri., Feb. 4.

Noblesville Fire Department Division Chief for Logistics and Public Relations Trevor Hash confirmed there were no storm-related fires, saying, “We had no fires or major accidents because of the storm, we had one small incident, an electrical fire at a nail salon, but nothing because of the storm.”

Westfield Street Superintendent Travis Stetnish confirmed that all primary roads in Westfield have been cleared for regular traffic. He commented on the relationship between the city and the county, saying, “We work together with them, we have an agreement with them where there are some county roads in town that we take care of, and there’s some roads way out west in town that they take care of, so we have a great partnership with the County.”