This afternoon's heavy snowfall could be just the beginning.
More snow is expected tonight as temperatures decrease, said geography professor David Call. The snow should stop falling by about 8 p.m. Thursday, and we can expect temperatures in the single digits and slippery road conditions this evening.
"Once it gets below 15 degrees, road salt doesn't work too well," Call said.
Alex March, a meteorology major and WCRD general manager, said the storm is called an Alberta clipper.
"So what happens when we get these Alberta clippers is they run through very quickly within just a matter of a few hours, and they'll dump a few inches of snow here," he said. "They are usually not that big of a deal, as this one isn't going to be."
Call said cold, windy weather tends to follow Alberta clippers. He said he expects another storm tomorrow that could bring light snow, sleet or freezing rain.
The University Police Department responded to about five weather-related accidents as of 12:30 p.m., said First Sgt. Rhonda Clark. By 3 p.m., about 30 weather-related wrecks had been reported to the Muncie Police Department.
Facilities planning and management crews have also been busy treating campus for the snow, Association Vice President of Facilities Kevin Kenyon said.
Kenyon said crews begin pretreating sidewalks and streets in the morning, usually around 7 a.m., with a liquid solution that melts ice and snow. The crews then continue to remove snow throughout the day with brooms.
"This is good snow for the brooms," he said. "It's not heavy enough to need plows really in a lot of cases yet, and it seems to be coming off OK with the brooms."
If accumulation reaches more than 3 inches, crews will begin using plows instead of brooms, Kenyon said. Once the snow stops falling, crews will lay salt down on sidewalks and roads.
Snow storms can be expected Friday, Saturday and Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
Call said it's time to brace for cooler weather.
"It looks like next week will still be fairly mild, but the week after that we could start to see more intense winter weather," he said. "This is what we expect January to be like."
-Sarah Boswell contributed to this story
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