'Going to be a mess': Up to 8 inches of snow with freezing rain, sleet from winter storm

Weather experts are urging people to stay home if possible starting Wednesday night as a winter storm is forecast to dump up to 1.25 inches of rain on Monroe County, followed by up to 2 inches of sleet and up to 8 inches of snow.

“It’s going to be a very impactful storm,” said Sam Lashley, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Indianapolis.

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The NWS expects rain to switch to freezing rain and sleet sometime Wednesday afternoon to evening. For much of Wednesday night through Thursday, Monroe County will see a mix of freezing rain, sleet and snow.

Lashley told The Herald-Times parts of the county could see sleet accumulations of up to 2 inches, which is rare.

He urged people to avoid travel starting Wednesday evening.

“It’s going to be a mess through the end of the day Thursday,” he said. “Staying at home is the best course of action.”

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Precipitation will switch to snow Thursday morning and will be heavy at times, along with strong wind and gusts of up to 30 mph, Lashley said.

He projected snowfall of 6-8 inches, with the larger accumulation expected for northern parts of the county.

Temperatures are expected to drop into the single digits Friday night into Saturday. Lashley said the low temperatures will quickly harden the snow, which, accompanied by the earlier freezing rain and sleet, will make shoveling difficult.

“It’s not going to be an easy system to deal with,” he said.

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County, city and state crews all are preparing for long hours.

Adam Wason, director of the Bloomington Department of Public Works, said the city has about 32 pieces of equipment, and employees are standing by to see whether they can put down some pre-treatment before the freezing rain and sleet hit. Wason said applying the pre-treatment now makes little sense as it likely will get washed away by the rain.

Public works also is coordinating with other city departments to get volunteer drivers in case the storm turns into a multi-day event, he said.

Wason urged people to slow down and give road crews some space.

He said a decision on Thursday’s scheduled sanitation services will be made Thursday morning.

“If forecasts hold true … a service delay is likely,” Wason said.

Get the latest weather forecast at weather.gov/ind.

Boris Ladwig is the city government reporter for The Herald-Times. Contact him at bladwig@heraldt.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington weather up to 8 inches from snow storm, freezing rain