Connect with us

Travel

Bloomington, Indiana, area road conditions, weather and closings for Jan. 6 snow storm

Published

2 days ago

on

Bloomington, Indiana, area road conditions, weather and closings for Jan. 6 snow storm

This article will be updated.

Bloomington is waking to another day of snow. Check back throughout the day for snow totals, weather outlook and travel information.

5 p.m. update

Monroe County’s travel status has been moved to watch. This advisory means non-essential travel is not recommended. Morgan and Brown counties remain in warning status, the highest level of travel advisory. Lawrence, Greene, Martin and Owen counties also have moved to watch status.

3:30 p.m. update

The Bloomington Severe Winter Emergency Shelter at First Christian Church is staffed for the night of Monday, Jan. 6. The shelter is seeking volunteers to be on site the rest of the week as temperatures dip into the teens.

The volunteer-run shelter is in the Great Hall at the church, located at the corner of Kirkwood Avenue and Washington Street downtown.

The south side church doors open when temperatures get below 25 degrees. It has 30 beds for unhoused people with no place to stay. Starting at 8:30 p.m., half are reserved for women. After that, any beds left are given to men who are given numbers and wait in line outside.

Volunteers are being sought to staff five overnight shifts that span 7:45 p.m. to 8 a.m. Volunteers check in guests, provide overnight supervision and help clean up. A 90-minute training session is required; one is scheduled for Jan. 12 at First United Methodist Church, which also hosts the shelter.

To find out more, contact shelter organizers at: btownsevereshelter@gmail.com.

Bloomington area school closures, eLearning

The following schools have already announced their plans for Tuesday, Jan. 7.

  • Bloomfield School District will be closed Tuesday. It will be an eLearning Day. Teachers will post eLearning assignments Monday by 9 a.m.
  • All Monroe County Community School Corporation (MCCSC) schools will be closed Tuesday. It will be an eLearning Day. Teachers will post/communicate lesson plans by 10 a.m.
  • All Edgewood/Richland Bean Blossom Community School Corporation (RBBCSC) schools will be closed Tuesday. It will be an eLearning Day.
  • Mitchell Community Schools will be closed.
  • Lighthouse Christian Academy will be closed.
  • Harmony School will be closed.

1:30 p.m. update

It’s been all hands on deck at the Monroe Fire Protection District during the current heavy-snow conditions. So there have been enough people on duty to staff all three of their new ambulances.

Battalion Chief Jason Allen said since people mostly are heeding advice to stay off the roads, fire department personnel haven’t seen many additional calls for vehicle slide-offs and crashes.

“It’s just the normal everyday medical calls coming in,” Allen said late Monday morning as the snow stopped falling.

But having three ambulances in service instead of one means the county doesn’t have to depend on calling ambulances in from neighboring counties on treacherous roads when IU Health ambulances are unavailable.

“A few times in the past few days all three of them were out on calls,” Allen said. “That way, we aren’t waiting 45 to 60 minutes for some to get here from Brown or Owen county. We have extra staff in at all the stations.”

He said the overtime staffing will end when the weather emergency subsides; it’s not affordable to sustain. “It’s just for the storm,” Allen said.

12:45 update

Monroe Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Jason Allen said advance warning of the snow that came to the area Sunday and Monday helped prepare residents, who mostly stocked up and stayed home.

“When we don’t have a lot of warning for snow like this, we get busy with wrecks and everything that comes along with slick roads,” Allen, the department’s public information officer, said on Monday.

“But knock on wood, it has been OK, so far. We still have all the regular calls, which don’t stop because of the weather happening at the time.”

Firefighters responded to a vehicle fire on South Leonard Springs Road Monday night, and assisted at a fire early Tuesday morning at a hay-filled barn on Mt. Pleasant Road in Bean Blossom Township.

Allen said if first-responders receive a call to an address inaccessible because of snow, a county snowplow can be dispatched to clear the way.

“Traffic-wise, in general, when people heed the warnings, it’s so much better for everyone,” Allen said. “And when they don’t, we ask that they travel and go slow.”

Noon update

Interstate 69 southbound between Bloomington and Martinsville has reopened.

Bloomington, Indiana, Monday closings

The following establishments have announced closures for Monday, Jan. 6.

  • Community Kitchen will not be serving today at any of its locations.
  • Hoosier Hills Food Bank
  • Head Start and Early Head Start
  • VFW Post 604
  • Ellettsville town hall
  • Hoosier Bar and Grill
  • WonderLab
  • Pantry 279 
  • Monroe County government offices, including courts and prosecutor
  • Opportunity House
  • Owen County Public Library
  • Special Olympics practice is canceled
  • Bloomington Meals on Wheels deliveries are canceled
  • Boys and Girls Clubs of Bloomington is closed, including winter break camps in Ellettsville and Owen County.
  • Bloomington Iron and Metal is closed.
  • All locations for the Waste Reduction District of Monroe County will be closed.
  • Bloomington Redevelopment Commission meeting is canceled.
  • Remax Acclaimed Properties is closed.
  • Bloomington Township Trustees office and food pantry are closed.
  • All branches of the Monroe County Public Library are closed.
  • Some IU Health offices will be closed. Check with your provider.
  • Nick’s English Hut is closed.
  • Both locations of Aver’s Pizza are closed.
  • Gables Bagels is closed.
  • Oliver Winery tasting room is closed.
  • Two Sticks Bakery is closed.
  • Heartwork Brewing is closed.
  •  All Old National banking centers in southern Indiana, including Bedford, Columbus, North Vernon, Seymour and Bloomington.

To be added to this list of closings, email mediatips@heraldt.com.

11 a.m. update

Monroe County Highway Department expects road clearing to be a days-long process, especially as the NWS’ latest predictions have snow continuing into Monday afternoon.

“We won’t make much of a head until it stops snowing,” said Lisa Ridge, highway director for Monroe County.

Ridge says plow trucks were dispatched at 6 a.m. this morning after 16 hours of active work yesterday. She says Monroe County will focus on major roads first, though smaller trucks are being dispatched to clear roads in suburban areas.

With Monroe County still under a travel advisory, Ridge encourages people in Monroe County to stay off roads as much as possible and be patient in the coming days as roads remain either snow covered or icy.

“It’s been a while since we had a storm of quite this magnitude,” Ridge said. “Patience is the biggest thing I could ask for at this point, because it’s going to be a few days before this storm gets cleaned up.”

9:45 a.m. update

The National Weather Service projects the Bloomington area will get another inch or so of snow in the next one to two hours, but then the snowfall should stop.

Kacie Fuson, a meteorologist with the NWS in Indianapolis, said the Bloomington area already has gotten about 8.5 inches of snow, according to reports from weather spotters.

After the snow, temperatures will fall, with highs in the 20s through at least Friday. Fuson said Wednesday night will see the lowest temperatures, with lows near zero. With wind chills, the temperature could feel as low as -5.

Fuson said the next chance for precipitation will be over the weekend, though it is too soon to say how much snow might be coming.

7:45 a.m. update

INDOT snow plow cameras show snow covered roads. The weather station located at I-69 and the Ind. 45/46 Bypass indicates the presence of black ice.

8:30 a.m. update

All lanes of southbound I-69 are closed 5 miles south of Martinsville according to INDOT’s traffic map. The road was closed due to icy conditions, INDOT said.

Indiana Department of Transportation snow plows are out on I-69, the Ind. 45/46 Bypass and Ind. 446.

7:30 a.m. update

Trash and recycling pickups for city of Bloomington and Rumpke customers will run on a one-day delay this week.

Due to the weather, delivery of Monday’s print edition of The Herald-Times will be delayed and in some cases delivered on Tuesday.

7 a.m. update

Travel is restricted this morning in Monroe, Brown, Lawrence and Morgan counties. The four counties are under a travel warning, the highest level of advisory. Owen, Greene and Martin counties remain under a travel watch, meaning only essential travel is recommended.

A winter storm warning remains in effect until 7 p.m. tonight. An additional 1 to 3 inches of snow is expected to fall and wind gusts up to 34 miles per hour will cause visibility issues.

Bloomington Transit is not operating today.

Bloomington area school closures for Monday, Jan. 6

  • Bloomfield School District will be closed. It will be an eLearning Day. Teachers will post eLearning assignments Monday by 9 a.m.
  • Brown County Schools will be closed and students will have an e-Learning Day. The board meeting will be rescheduled for Monday, Jan. 13 in the Goldberg Room at 6 p.m.
  • Lighthouse Christian Academy will be closed.
  • All Monroe County Community School Corporation (MCCSC) schools will be closed Monday. All in person programs, which include the Early Learning Center, Hoosier Hills Child Care, preschools and pre-K programs, and extended day will be closed. All after-school activities are canceled.
  • Harmony School will be closed.
  • Mitchell Community Schools will be closed.
  • Ivy Tech Bloomington will operate virtually on Monday.

To be added to this list email closings@heraldt.com

Related Topics:
Continue Reading