Making progress

The roads were not staying clear. With windy conditions dying down Wednesday, crews started making better progress on plowing efforts.

Jay County moved to a travel watch — only essential travel is advised, such as for work or emergencies — at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

After being on a travel watch from noon Monday through Tuesday afternoon, the county jumped back to a travel warning — it calls for refraining from all travel — at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

As of 8 a.m. Wednesday morning, Jay County was the only one in the state that was under a travel warning before it shifted back to a watch two hours later. Most of the state remained under a watch, with 17 counties on advisories and two — Lake and Porter in northwest Indiana — on no restriction.

“That was a very tough decision for us, but we saw where overnight we just were not comfortable with the condition that our roads were in,” explained Jay County Emergency Management Director Samantha Rhodehamel.

Jay County Highway Department superintendent Bob Howell said the county had roads that weren’t passable Tuesday evening. 

“We fought the wind all day,” he said. “We had several roads that were drifted all the way across, with drifts, like, from a foot clear up to 4.5 foot all the way across the road, mainly in the southwest area. Then up north were about (one) foot-drifts all the way across the road.”

Jay County Highway Department resumed plowing efforts at 5 a.m. Wednesday.

With the county making headway on roads as winds died down, officials decided to pull Jay County back to a travel watch.

“We’re getting (the roads) opened up at least one lane and then we’re going to work throughout the day to get them fully passable,” Howell said.

Snow began falling about 5 p.m. Saturday and continued throughout the day Sunday, totaling about 11.5 inches in Jay County. Travel has been hazardous ever since.

Jay School Corporation closed schools for the third day in a row, while Fort Recovery students attended classes on a three-hour delay. (Jay Schools were also closed Friday because of extreme cold.)

Jay County Courthouse was closed Wednesday morning but opened at noon after the travel restriction was reduced to a watch. 

Redkey Town Council’s regular meeting agenda for Tuesday was shortened to solely approve claims. Council will schedule another meeting soon to address other agenda items. 

Dunkirk’s park board meeting that was scheduled for Wednesday was canceled. (The city also did not hold its city council meeting Monday.)

While high winds that caused problems have died down, frigid temperatures continue to be an issue.

The National Weather Service is projecting tonight’s low at minus 5 degrees, with Friday’s high to top out at 10. Highs will be in the teens through Sunday, with lows below zero expected Friday night and Saturday night.

Temperatures are finally expected to climb into the 20s on Monday.

Randolph, Delaware, Adams and Wells counties were all on watches as of noon Wednesday. Blackford County shifted to a travel advisory late Wednesday morning.

In Ohio, Mercer County was on a Level 2 snow alert overnight Tuesday before shifting down to a Level 1 at 7 a.m. Wednesday.

Rhodehamel said the county would stay under a travel watch Wednesday afternoon while plow drivers worked. Plans were to reevaluate Wednesday evening.

She cautioned residents needing to travel to plan extra time for their trips and drive carefully down country roads. While the county is spreading some salt on roads, she added, it won’t be as effective in single-digit and subzero temperatures.

“If you don’t need to be out, please do not be out, and give those plows time and space to get their job done,” she said.