The Indiana Department of Homeland Security placed Monroe County under a travel advisory until further notice. This means regular travel or activities could be limited in specific areas due to the conditions caused by hazardous snow and wind.
Local residents are advised to exercise caution or avoid the areas entirely. The DHS County Travel Status Map can be viewed here.
The NWS also issued a wind chill advisory from 7 p.m. on Saturday night to 1 p.m. on Sunday. These wind chills are expected to be as low as –13 F, which can cause frostbite with as little as 30 minutes of skin exposure.
Duke Energy reported a major power outage in northeast Bloomington around 10:30 p.m. Friday. According to the company’s outage map, nearly 2,000 customers near the intersection of East 10th Street and State Route 45 were without electricity as of 11:30 p.m. Friday.
Sunday will be partly sunny and cold with a high near 8 F, but wind chill values as low as –21 F. There is a slight chance of flurries on Sunday night, with a low of around 2 F. Winds will die down a bit into Monday as the pressure gradient relaxes a bit but should tighten back up into Tuesday as another push of cold air arrives from the northwest.
Monday follows suit with cold temperatures and a chance of snow showers after 1 p.m., while Tuesday is a mixture of cold and sunny. Despite less wind, air temperatures could be cold enough to reach wind chill advisory levels of 5 F or lower.
Wednesday will bring a sunny day with a high near 25 F and a low around 19 F. Snow showers may return on Thursday and Friday, with temperatures ranging from 21 to 30 F.
According to the Monroe County website, warming stations are available from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Jan. 13-20. A map with all the warming station locations can be found here.
People can track weather forecasts through the local weather channels and NWS live trackers. Important alerts can be found here.