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Snow was already several inches deep on Briar Lane in Celina by early Sunday afternoon.
CELINA - Mercer and Auglaize counties remain under a Level 3 snow emergency until at least 9 a.m. today due to hazardous road conditions further exacerbated by blowing and drifting snow.
"This is not the worst conditions I've seen, but it certainly ranks up there over my 30-some years as definitely being in the top five, for sure," Mercer County Sheriff Doug Timmerman told The Daily Standard, adding the the area saw over 12 inches of snow this weekend.
A Level 3 snow emergency means that roads are closed to all drivers except those traveling for emergency or essential purposes. Motorists on the roadways for any other reasons are subject to arrest.
"If an employer requires them to come in, we consider that essential, because their employer requires them to come in," Auglaize County Sheriff Michael Vorhees told the newspaper. "If that's the case, that's between them and their employer - as long as they're going straight to work and back."
Timmerman echoed those sentiments.
"We try to use an abundance of common sense. We cannot keep people from going to work," he told the newspaper. "Obviously we've got staff that have to get to the hospital. You can't shut down a factory."
Local sheriffs will reevaluate conditions early this morning, once the strong winter storm had abated.
Furthermore, a cold weather advisory remains in effect until 6 p.m. tonight.
At that time, an extreme cold warning will take effect until noon Tuesday, with dangerously cold wind chills as lows as 20 degrees below zero to grip the area, potentially causing frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington.
With that in mind, all local schools and Wright State University Lake Campus are closed today, as well as all Mercer County government offices.
All Mercer Health Medical Group offices, including primary care, cardiology, mental wellness, OB/GYN, pediatrics, pulmonology and urology, are closed, according to a Mercer Health news release.
So, too, are cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, Center for Healthy Weight and Wellness, Disease Management Center, Marion Campus, Medical Equipment, Occupational Health and Wellness, Outpatient and Pain Management Center, and therapy and rehabilitation outpatient locations.
Grand Lake Health Systems announced closings for today. Grand Lake Physician Practices will close all practices, including the Grand Lake Wellness Center and the KOC Walk-In Clinic at the Joint Township District Memorial Hospital Outpatient Center. The closure applies to lab and X-ray services at the Wapakoneta, Minster and Celina locations, as well as Medical Office Building lab services, according to a GLHS news release.
The delay applies to lab and X-ray services at the Wapakoneta, Minster and Celina locations, as well as Medical Office Building lab services, according to a GLHS news release.
"Dr. Reichert's AMGBS office will be closed for the entire day," the release states.
A thick blanket of snow fell over Celina on Sunday and the streets were ghostly quiet.
Timmerman moved to a Level 3 snow emergency a little after noon Sunday.
"I've been talking with the chief deputy, talked to the county highway department, talked to the Auglaize County Sheriff, went into the office, and I talked to the deputies," he said. "And then, of course, I drove the roads myself and went, 'OK, we can't mess around too much anymore."
He said he also spoke with businesses that decided to shut down operations.
"It needed to happen. The plows just can't keep up," he said. "I went up (State Route) 118, and that was bad. I mean, you had to keep enough speed to get through the snow. But it was tossing the car around so bad, there was so much snow on the road. That was like 30 mph top speed."
Taking to the road from about 10:30 a.m. to noon,Timmerman reported seeing scant traffic on the roads aside from pickup trucks and a few semitrailers.
"I saw a lot of pickup trucks with push-plows on the front of them, assuming they were going to businesses and helping maybe family, friends and neighbors and doing business work," he noted. "But I did not see a lot of traffic on the roadway whatsoever."
Overall, the roads "are treacherous," according to Timmerman.
"They're not terribly slick. It's just the drifting, and the heavy snow that's packing on the roadway. It's just hard to get traction to get through some of those heavy drifts.
"It's a lighter snow, so it makes it easy to blow, but it also makes it easier to drift that way, too."
After plowing snow for most of the day, Mercer County Engineer's Office crews were expected to wind down their efforts Sunday evening.
"Just so these guys can get some sleep," Timmerman said. "I do know they're going to have a smaller crew out tonight (Sunday night), which just means that it gives the roads more opportunity to drift over."
Timmerman said his office offered transportation to hospital staff who live in the county.
"We can because our cruisers have four-wheel drive," he said.
Some fire departments offered to assist Mercer County Emergency Medical Service ambulances, if needed, according to Timmerman.
There weren't many reports of accidents caused by the snow-blanketed roads.
"Early on they had several vehicles that were stuck, but not a whole lot of slide-offs," Timmerman said.
He urged the public to stay off the roads to enable plows to clear the roads as quickly as possible.
"It's just not worth anybody getting hurt. If you don't have to be out on the roadway, then obviously the crews can clean up the roads faster and better," he said. "People … just be patient. They're out there doing the best job that they can. It sounds like we're going to have this for a couple days, at least with the cold temperatures. So people, just bear with us and get through it safely."
After conferring with the county highway department, Vorhees said he made the decision to shift into Level 3 snow emergency at 5 p.m. Sunday.
"State roads aren't too bad. They're passable," he said. "Secondary roads, township, county roads are pretty bad. Our county highway department, they park their plows at about 5:30 (p.m.) and then they come out at 5 a.m. (today)."
Drifting snow is the main culprit behind the hazardous road conditions. Just like his Mercer County counterpart, Vorhees said he will reassess road conditions this morning.
"It's the drifting with the wind," he said. "And then with the wind shifting from northeast, and by morning it'll be out of the west. That's creating problems for the plows, and also everybody being able to keep up with everything."
Vorhees said his office didn't field a whole lot of calls about slide-offs or other accidents caused by the difficult road conditions.
"I think people have been pretty reasonable today (Sunday). We went under Level 2 at 5:30 this morning," he said. "We're worried about the temperatures, too. … (Tonight) is suppose to get worse with the temperatures."
