Overnight snow creates slick morning commute

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - The snow that fell Tuesday afternoon overnight into Wednesday morning, as forecasted, became the most significant snowfall of the 2012-2013 winter season in Greater Lafayette.

Total accumulation in Lafayette was more than 5 inches. Areas to the north saw more, some even more than 8 inches. Before turning to snow, the precipitation started as rain. Tuesday afternoon, the rain turned to freezing rain, sleet and then over to snow. The snow continues to fall during the evening commute before tapering off in the early morning hours Wednesday.

Greater Lafayette was left with snow-covered roads, despite the round-the-clock efforts of road crews and snow plows. Caution was the word of the morning, as local law enforcement officers said the biggest problem they saw was underestimating how slick the roads were. Drivers were asked to take it slow, use common sense and allow extra travel time.

There were several slide-offs and minor crashes Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Around 6:30 a.m., drivers headed north on Interstate 65 in Tippecanoe County were stopped when a semi jackknifed. The incident happened near milemarker 170, between the S.R. 38 and S.R. 26 exits. No injuries were reported.