Winter weather blasts Indiana

A snowstorm that brought freezing rain to much of central Indiana caused scattered power outages as ice-encased tree limbs fell onto power lines while heavy snow began to blanket the northern counties.\nAt least four weather-related road fatalities were blamed in part on icy conditions.\nFreezing rain fell over the central third of the state from Monday night through Tuesday morning, with the heaviest accumulations of ice reported in east-central Indiana.\nScattered power outages hit the city of Richmond and other east-central communities, but no widespread outages were reported. Some schools reported delays because of the icy roadways.\nBy early afternoon, the precipitation was forecast to change over to snow and sleet over northern and central Indiana. Up to six inches of snow were forecast to fall on north-central Indiana, with generally lesser amounts farther south and only rain expected over southern Indiana.\nTwo waves of freezing rain, sleet and snow swept across the state as the storm system rolled up the Ohio River Valley. The first wave arrived Monday, followed by another late Monday and early Tuesday.\nIn central Indiana's Johnson County, a mother and two children were killed Tuesday morning when their car slid into an oncoming pickup on Indiana 44 near Franklin.\nKilled at the scene of the 7 a.m. accident were the car's driver, Paula Hoagland, 31, and two children, Tina Hoagland, 8, and Jacob Eirhart, 11, all of Martinsville, Johnson County sheriff's deputies said. The pickup's driver was not seriously injured.\nSpeed and slick conditions both were factors in the accident, Deputy Brian Blankenship said.\nIn northern Indiana's Elkhart County, Daisy G. Heung, 40, of Sturgis, Mich., died shortly before noon Monday when her minivan slid into oncoming traffic on snowy Indiana 120, police said.\n"People are going slow enough not to get hurt, but too fast for conditions," Elkhart police Sgt. Brett Coppins said.\nA Greyhound bus slid off Interstate 65 into a ditch near the interstate's Merrillville exit Monday, but no injuries were reported. The 40 stranded passengers were picked up later Monday by a second bus.\nEarlier Monday, a small jet carrying six people slid off the side of an icy runway during landing at Anderson Municipal Airport, but no one was injured, airport officials said.\nThe National Weather Service said freezing rain would change over to snow and sleet by Tuesday afternoon, while the southern counties were expected to see only rain due to milder readings there.\nAnd warmer readings are on the way.\nWednesday, mostly sunny skies are forecast with highs reaching into the 40s. Thursday and Friday will be even warmer, with highs from the lower 40s north to the middle 50s south.