Winter Storm in Indiana, January 5 to 6, 2025

A major winter storm impacted southwest Indiana on the 5th with a mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain. Heavy snow with rates around 1 inch per hour impacted locations along and north of Interstate 64 beginning in the morning hours before eventually ending as sleet and freezing rain later that day. A lull occurred that evening with areas of freezing drizzle before wrap around moisture caused one final burst of snow into the morning hours on the 6th. Peak accumulations ranged from 4 to 8 inches of snow and sleet along with glazes of ice. Further south along an axis that extended along the Ohio River, a period of snow on the onset transitioned to sleet and freezing rain, ending as brief light snow the following morning. This is where the thickest glaze of ice between a quarter to half of an inch and 2 to 4 inches of snow and sleet had accumulated that led to widespread treacherous travel conditions, traffic accidents, and power outages. In Vanderburgh County, IN, an Amazon semi-truck had slid partially off the road and became stuck near Evansville that experienced some of the greatest impacts. In the vicinity, on U.S. 41 and Baseline Road, a black Chrysler 200 slid off the road. Transformers at one point were blowing left and right due to the weight of ice. Buildings even caught on fire on the southeast side of Evansville in addition to trees dropping into fences. Part of a tree impaled a home on Graham Ave. A tree had also falling onto a home due to the weight of ice near Yankeetown in Warrick County, IN. Over 100,000 residents across the entire tri-state region were without power during its peak that night into the following morning, with Posey, Vanderburgh and Spencer Counties experiencing some of the greatest outages in southwest Indiana. Temperatures in the 20s gradually rose above freezing that evening across southern portions of the region, but a shallow cold layer near 1000 ft above ground level made the ice reluctant to melt off the tree branches. The heavy weight on trees led to additional power outages during the day on the 6th due to wind gusts over 20 mph. Wet surfaces the prior night also resulted in a flash freeze as temperatures quickly plummeted back below freezing into the 20s. Key Impacts: transportation delays, traffic accidents, power outages.