Winter Weather — Marion, Indiana

2020-01-17 to 2020-01-18 · Marion, Indiana

Event narrative

A fatal accident occurred around 9:30 PM local time when an SUV lost control of his vehicle on a bridge and crashed into a nearby pond. There were two occupants of the vehicle. One occupant was pronounced dead and the other was in critical condition. A mixture of freezing rain and sleet was falling at the time and police have determined that weather likely played a factor in the crash.

Wider weather episode

A strong upper level low pressure system brought periods of mixed precipitation to central Indiana late during the evening of the 17th and continuing through the night. Precipitation began as a snow/sleet mix and transitioned to freezing rain before all rain. Freezing rain caused slick spots across surfaces and led to several accidents with one being fatal.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 865048. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.