With freezing rain in the forecast, highway crews prep for road treatment

MUNCIE, Ind. — Local officials were bracing Monday for the possibility of an ice storm

A National Weather Service forecast calls for rain or freezing rain in the Muncie area on Monday evening.

The low temperature was expected to fall to just under the freezing level, at 31 degrees.

The NWS forecast called for “less than 0.1 of an inch (of ice) possible.”

Rain, perhaps at time mixed with freezing rain, was forecast for Tuesday, with the temperature eventually approaching 40 degrees.

Tommie Humbert, superintendent of the Delaware County Highway Department, said Monday morning he anticipated having 15 trucks treating county roads by early Tuesday.

Humbert said department workers on Monday morning were mixing the ingredients of the treatment materials to be applied to roads.

“The (Delaware County) commissioners really want us to be prepared for the worst,” the department superintendent said.

Humbert noted weather conditions had kept his employees busy for much of the month of January.

John Coutinho, executive director of the Delaware County Emergency Management Agency, said Monday morning that his agency was monitoring the incoming weather, and would be in communication with city, county and state road crews.

Coutinho said it was hoped the comparatively small amount of freezing rain predicted would not bring down utility lines in the area, but said there was still the potential for hazardous road conditions, including patches of “black ice.”

Douglas Walker is a news reporter for The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.