INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The latest is a series of winter storms to belt Indiana left as much as 12 inches of snowfall in northern Indiana and an icy glaze in southern Indiana that temporary closed one hilly highway Wednesday.
The storm also closed college campuses and K-12 schools across the state, giving students yet another snow day, and shuttered, at least for part of the day, many businesses and some government offices.
Crashes caused police to close several sections of major highways at various times. Indiana State Police Sgt. Noel Houze said slick conditions temporarily prevented motor vehicles from climbing a hill on Interstate 74 in the state’s far southeastern corner.
Police also closed Interstate 65 south of Indianapolis after a pileup collected three semitrailers and four passenger vehicles. Closures also affected I-65 north of Lafayette and south of Indianapolis, I-164 near Evansville, police said.
The National Weather Service says totals measured by one its employees or local emergency managers included 12 inches in Kosciusko County, 11 inches in Columbia City, 10 inches in Culver and 8.5 inches in the Miami County town of Mexico, all in northern Indiana.
Elsewhere, the weather service reported 10 inches of snow in Fort Wayne and eastern Indiana’s Randolph County, nearly 10 inches in western Indiana’s Parke County; 9.3 inches east of Frankfort, and 9 inches near West Lafayette. Indianapolis received about 7 inches of snow.
Purdue University canceled all Wednesday classes at its West Lafayette main campus out of concern over road conditions for those commuting to campus. The Indiana-Purdue campus in Fort Wayne also closed Wednesday, while IUPUI in Indianapolis is remaining closed through 5 p.m. Wednesday. Indiana University kept its main campus in Bloomington on its normal schedule, but the storm has led to closings or delays at IU regional campuses in Kokomo, Richmond and New Albany and Ball State University in Muncie.
The latest snowfall totals gave Fort Wayne its second snowiest winter on record, with 52.2 inches through 1 p.m. Wednesday, or nearly double its normal winter snowfall of 26.2 inches. The record is 55.7 inches in 1981-82, the weather service said.
Indianapolis has had its fourth snowiest winter on record at 44.1 inches, or about 7 inches shy of the record 51 inches that fell in 1981-82, the weather service said.
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