I-70 accidents keep authorities busy

With central Indiana nearly four feet of snow shy of last winter's record snowfall, what's one or two inches of white stuff falling Monday?

Plenty apparently if you were driving along Interstate 70 through Putnam, Clay or Vigo counties during the day.

Troopers from the Indiana State Police at Putnamville Post responded to several snow- and ice-related calls due to Monday's wintry weather, Sgt. Joe Watts reported.

Property-damage accidents in the district totaled 21 on Monday, while there were three minor personal-injury incidents along with 11 slideoffs.

I-70 was reportedly the dividing line between light and heavier snowfall across Indiana with areas to the south receiving greater amounts.

Bedford topped the list with 8.5 inches of snow, while Bloomington and Bloomfield each got 4-5 inches. Terre Haute received a reported two inches of snow.

The majority of accidents occurred on I-70, mostly in Vigo, Clay and western Putnam counties, along with two crashes worked by ISP in Parke County on U.S. 41.

Interstate 70 eastbound near the six-mile marker (Wabash River Bridge) was closed for approximately 45 minutes for a tractor-trailer crash. Other areas of I-70 were slow at times for crash investigation and clean-up.

There were no life-threatening injuries reported in any of the personal injury crashes, State Police said.

Meanwhile, Monday's snowfall puts Putnam County at 7.51 inches for winter thus far. That is not only more than 12 inches below normal for this time of year but about 44 inches behind last year's Feb. 16 totals.

Last winter's record snowfall of 52.2 inches knocked winter 1981-82 and its 51 inches of snow from the top spot of the National Weather Service's most snowfall list.