First winter storm of season hits with more to come

While recent snowfall made for treacherous travel and canceled school, a Greencastle man also had some fun with the situation. Just out the sliding doors of his Toddson Drive home, Gary Bowser built five small snowmen, one to represent each of his grandchildren.

Courtesy photo

Despite white-out conditions reported for a time Sunday night, Putnam County escaped the first wave of a winter storm early this week without any major traffic incidents.

The Putnam County Sheriff’s Department reported responding to 16 crashes between early Sunday evening, when the snowfall started, and early Monday afternoon, before the second wave of the winter storm moved in.

Public Information Officer Scott Ducker reported that just one of the accidents involved personal injury.

The most serious local crash in the recent snowfall took place at the Putnam-Hendricks line shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday. Not seeing an approaching pickup truck in the heavy snowfall, an Indianapolis man turned into its path on U.S. 40. Larry Engel and his passenger were both transported to the hospital.

Courtesy Putnam County Sheriff’s Department

PCSD also performed seven motorist assists, calls such as broken down vehicles and those stuck in the snow that don’t involve an actual property-damage crash.

According to the National Weather Service in Indianapolis, four inches of snow fell between the 5 p.m. hour on Sunday and when snow stopped for several hours Monday morning.

Due to the weather, Putnam County was placed under a travel advisory shortly before 8 p.m. Sunday, a state in which it remained as of 4:30 p.m. Monday, with more snow falling at the time.

The lowest level of local travel alert, a travel advisory means that routine travel or activities may be restricted in areas because of a hazardous situation, and individuals should use caution or avoid those areas.

Putnam and all its surrounding counties — Montgomery, Parke, Clay, Owen, Morgan and Hendricks — remained under travel advisories as of Monday afternoon, along with much of Central Indiana and part of Southern Indiana.

All told, more than two dozen Indiana counties, all but two of them within a contiguous area, had travel advisories in place.

The one local wreck that involved injuries took place at 6:52 p.m. Sunday, when visibility was likely at its worst.

Larry A. Engel, 62, Indianapolis, was eastbound on County Road 200 South (end of State Road 240), preparing to turn left onto U.S. 40 in a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox.

Engel told Deputy Robert Soilleux he stopped before turning and entering the intersection. He said he did not see anything coming and was 90 percent through his turn into the slow lane when another vehicle hit him from behind.

John P. Moore, 41, Amo, said he was traveling eastbound in the slow lane of U.S. 40 at 55 mph in a 2016 Ford F-350.

Moore said Engel turned in front of him. He said he honked his horn before crashing into the rear of Engel’s vehicle.

It was snowing heavily at the time of the incident, with approximately two inches of accumulation.

Moore refused medical aid. Both Engel and his passenger were taken to the hospital for treatment.

Another serious-looking crash took place Monday morning at County Road 1000 North and County Road 350 West.

The sheriff’s department reported the driver of a grain semi was attempting to deliver a heavy load of wet seed when the rear of the semi locked up on the ice.

The trailer slid into a ditch and rolled over, but no one was injured.

While not confined to Putnam County, the Indiana State Police also reported keeping busy overnight from Sunday into Monday.

Public Information Officer Sgt. Matt Ames reported that in the Putnamville district, troopers responded to 13 crashes, four of them with injury, as well as nine slide-offs and eight disabled vehicles.

The Putnamville district encompasses Putnam, Clay, Parke, Vermillion, Vigo and Sullivan counties.

With the overnight snowfall and the promise of more, all Putnam County schools canceled class on Monday, with Cloverdale, Greencastle and North Putnam enacting e-learning days. The Greencastle School Board also canceled its Monday meeting.

The snowfall began anew on Monday afternoon, with the possibility of as much snow as the first wave or more. Greencastle forecasts called for 1-3 inches of daytime accumulation, followed by another 1-3 inches overnight.

The snowfall was already causing traffic problems in Putnam County late Monday afternoon, with traffic reportedly stopped on northbound U.S. 231 in the Plessinger Hill area south of Greencastle. In particular, tractor-trailers were having trouble making it up the hill, with traffic backing up to U.S. 40 at one point.