Winter Weather — De Kalb, Indiana

2008-02-26 to 2008-02-27 · De Kalb, Indiana

Event narrative

A burst of moderate snow as well as some blowing and drifting snow was a contributing factor to a death in Dekalb county. Police reports indicate the 53 year old man driving a snowmobile attempted to jump West Smith ditch at around 10 pm EST, near the interection of County Roads 34 and 43 around Auburn. The snowmobile became airborne and hit the opposite side head on, subsequently killing the driver.

Wider weather episode

Northerly winds moving down the length of Lake Michigan resulted in a significant single band of lake effect snow Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Snow totals reached over 18 inches as thunder and lightning were reported. The heavy snow closed the toll road in Laporte County early Wednesday morning, February 27th, as several semi trucks were unable to gain traction and visibilities dropped to zero. The single band actually began north of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in Lake Superior and stretched over 500 miles into Cass County Indiana.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 85437. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.