By Mark Webber and Jana Wiersema
Republic staff writers
COLUMBUS, Ind. — Bartholomew and surrounding counties will remain under a winter storm watch from Wednesday evening through late Thursday night, the National Weather Service in Indianapolis said. Hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commute on Thursday.
Columbus officials are expecting rain, snow, sleet and ice over the next few days, and department heads met Tuesday morning to discuss the storm. Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop said the city is planning for a “significant amount” of precipitation and will see what happens.
“Bryan Burton, who runs our Department of Public Works, emphasized to us that the current thought is that this storm will develop slowly,” he said at Tuesday’s Board of Works meeting. “It will start out as rain, and then as temperatures fall, it will divert to sleet and ice, and then we may get some snow.”
The precipitation that was anticipated to begin Tuesday night and continue into Thursday night will limit the amount of preventative measures that can be provided by road and street crews. The extensive rain means street and highway departments will not be able to put down brine – a liquid solution containing about 22% salt and 78% water intended to prevent snow and ice from sticking to the road – because the rain would just wash it off the pavement.
“We can’t do anything in advance with this type of storm,” Executive Director of Public Works and City Engineer Dave Hayward said.
“It is going to be the first big storm for us this year, so please have patience and give our plow drivers plenty of room to work,” said Burton.
For the complete story, see Wednesday’s Republic
