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Northwest Indiana saw heavy snow and power outages in a lake effect snowstorm that began Sunday and continued into Monday. Snow began falling in Lake and Porter counties around 5 p.m. Sunday and increased in intensity around 10 p.m. Sunday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Zachary Yack. As of Monday afternoon, most areas in Northwest Indiana saw anywhere between 6 inches to 10 inches of snow, Yack said. The snow was expected to continue through about 5 p.m. Monday, he said, and the area will see an additional 1 inch to 3 inches of snow. While it’s common for the Chicago and Northwest Indiana area to see snow this time of year, the lake effect impact of this snowstorm was more comparable to end-of-December snowfalls, Yack said. Lake effect snow increases the intensity of the snowfall, Yack said, which makes it more challenging for crews to clear roads. “This was more on the extreme side with the lake amounts. It’s a little early for this amount, but we see snow around this time this year,” Yack said. The Indiana Department of Transportation “had a full call out of trucks before this winter weather hit,” said INDOT spokeswoman Cassandra Bajek. “Plow drivers have been working hard to improve road conditions on our state-maintained routes. We appreciate everyone who left early, took it slow, and gave our plows plenty of room to work,” Bajek said. Throughout the snowstorm, multiple residents throughout Northwest Indiana reported power outages, according to NIPSCO. As of Monday afternoon, 908 NIPSCO customers were without power, including 141 in Gary, 137 in Chesterton, 51 in Portage, 97 in Hobart and 92 in Merrillville, according to NIPSCO. “All available resources have been working to assess damage, make necessary repairs and restore power as safely and quickly as possible in the ongoing inclement conditions,” said NIPSCO spokeswoman Jessica Cantarelli. Over the course of the weather event, approximately 18,000 customers were affected, with approximately 7,000 customers impacted at any one time, she said. During a Monday news conference, Gov. Mike Braun said INDOT, Indiana State Police and the Indiana Department of Homeland Security will work together to respond to winter weather conditions. “Keeping Hoosiers safe this winter season will take a collaborative effort between our state agencies and our citizens,” Braun said. “I am urging every Hoosier to do their part: prepare your homes, plan your travel, and always give our dedicated crews the space they need to keep our state moving safely.” INDOT has been preparing for the winter season by hiring seasonal snow plow drivers, training current staff, inspecting trucks and other equipment and securing salt, according to a Governor’s Office news release. “Our plows are ready, salt barns are stocked, and we have plenty of drivers for the season, but safety on the roads depends on all of us,” said INDOT Commissioner Lyndsay Quist in the release. “Please, when you’re out on the roads this winter, slow down, don’t crowd the plow and give our crews room to work.” During the winter months last year, more than 4,500 crashes occurred because of people driving too fast for conditions, said ISP Capt. Ron Galaviz in the release. “When winter weather strikes, our troopers are among the first on the scene, and visibility and road conditions can change in seconds,” Galaviz said in the release. “We’re urging all Hoosiers to drive cautiously, buckle up and keep an emergency kit in your vehicle. If you see flashing lights, please slow down and move over.” The early-season snow forced school and library closures throughout the region, in addition to the expected crashes and slide-offs on area roads. It was the earliest heavy snowfall that Chesterton Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg has ever seen in his long career with the town. “Statistically, I don’t remember this much snow before Veterans Day,” Schnadenberg said. Assistant Street Commissioner Dan Moy said he officially measured 6 inches of snow in Chesterton. He said at his front yard in Porter Township, there was 9.5 inches of snow. Snowplow drivers for the town of Chesterton encountered harrowing conditions during the early Monday morning hours, Schnadenberg said. “It was snowing two inches per hour. They were going 10 miles per hour,” Schnadenberg said on the Town’s Facebook page. The crews started at 10 p.m. Sunday and worked through the morning. All of the streets were plowed by 10 a.m., but the alleys and cul-de-sacs still needed to be addressed. More lake-effect snow was predicted to return Monday in Chesterton, but the sun broke through with clear blue skies before then. The Duneland School Corporation declared an “eLearning day” at 5:06 a.m. Westchester Public Library closed its Chesterton and Porter branches for the day. Portage Mayor Austin Bonta said Monday that plows had been working since Sunday night, continuing into Monday. “It has been a lot to keep up with, especially after the ‘second round’ came our way,” he said. “Our Portage Utilities Department has teamed up with our Street Department to get more plows on the road and cover as much of our city’s 162 miles of roads as safely and efficiently as possible,” he said. The South Shore Line saw trains delayed because of the weather, Director of Capital Investment & Implementation Nicole Barker said. Additionally, the Portage Township School Board meetings planned for Monday night were rescheduled for 5 p.m. Nov. 17 at the district’s administration building. Valparaiso Police put out a bulletin early Monday morning advising motorists that eastbound U.S. 30 was closed from Washington Street to Sturdy Road due to conditions that caused several vehicles to slide off the road, though the road was later reopened. “If they have to go out, be careful,” advised Porter County Emergency Management Agency Director Lance Bella, who had put out an advisory on the county’s roads as well. “Just give themselves plenty of time to stop.” By 11 a.m. Monday, Porter County Highway Superintendent Jim Polarek had been clearing roads for seven hours. “I’ve been in a plow truck since 4 a.m.,” he said. “We’re getting caught up now.” Porter County’s main roads had been cleared and Polarek’s staff had begun clearing the county’s 200 neighborhoods. “It usually takes us nine to 10 hours to get everything if it’s stopped.” But a couple of hours later, another round of snow fell until about 1:45 p.m. “They were getting caught up and now this started,” said Bella. “Luckily, the temperature’s high enough that the salt will work. We’re in a good temperature range.” Polarek asked that people give his staff some grace. “Just don’t cuss out our plow drivers if we happen to hit your grass or knock over garbage cans with heavy snow.” Lake County wasn’t spared Lake County saw its share of snow and weather-related closures as well. Hobart Mayor Josh Huddlestun said during the last 12 hours, city officials recorded 13 vehicle slide-offs and seven accidents “We’ve had one call for utility problems and one vehicle accident with transports due to weather,” he said. A transformer was blown near 534 E. 37th Avenue, and a personal injury accident was reported on Interstate 65 southbound near mile marker 256, he said. There was also a decent amount of EMS calls, but unrelated to the weather. “Our crews are out getting hammered,” he said. No accidents with injuries had been reported in Crown Point as of late Monday morning, according to Mary Freda-Flores, communications director for Crown Point. “We have had two to three minor crashes, but we can not definitely say they were snow-related,” she said. The city’s public works team started prepping their snow plows and trucks around 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. “They started salting around 7:30 p.m. on Sunday and stayed out until roughly 12:30 a.m. on Monday and took a break as conditions became too hazardous,” she said. They began plowing again around 1:30 a.m. The morning crew arrived at 7 a.m. and will stay on shift until the snow is cleared, she said. Merrillville Streets Department Director Steve King said his crews started at 2:30 a.m. Monday, and it was a slog for most of the time. “It was at least 10 inches of snow here, and it started up again,” King said late Monday morning. “We’ve got the main roads clear and are now hitting the subdivisions. There was a lot of drifting in the panhandle (on the southeast side of town), but we always have issues with drifting out there. “It’s a typical wet, heavy snow, but we have plenty of salt.” The town of Highland also had a rough go of it but for a different reason, Town Clerk-Treasurer Mark Herak said: Four of its big trucks broke down for various reasons. But Public Works worked with what they had and plowed through the night, he said. As a result of the storm, garbage pickup will be Tuesday, Herak added. Winfield Town Marshal Robert Byrd said road conditions around the town were good until the “afternoon blast.” “We got hit pretty good,” Byrd said. He said Grand Boulevard, from 97th to 109th avenues, had to be closed down for a while because a snowplow went into the ditch. In addition, 109th Avenue had to be closed to traffic from the County Line Road, outside Lakes of the Four Seasons, to Randolph due to the slick and hilly roads. “Cars were sliding off and so we closed it and opened it back open,” Byrd said. He advised drivers to slow down and keep a safe distance. akukulka@post-trib.com Post-Tribune freelance reporters Jim Woods, Doug Ross, Shelley Jones, Deborah Laverty and Michelle L. Quinn contributed.
