No blizzard was going to stop Northwest Indiana from celebrating everyone’s favorite winter holiday Sunday night. Actually, it kind of did.
Many people decided to forgo their Super Bowl plans rather than brave the falling temps, wild winds and the 12-plus inches of snow that got unceremoniously dumped on most of the area. But Mike Garcia, of Highland, was not among them.
“We live on a dead-end street, and we were going to stay home but then the plows finally came through, so we came out to eat and celebrate,” Garcia said. “It felt much better to get out than stay locked in.”
Snow and high winds pummeled the region Sunday, leaving treacherous roads and at least 6,700 people without power throughout the region. Tom Stevens, a spokesman for NIPSCO, said the hardest hit areas were in Gary, Hammond, Merrillville, Munster and Whiting.
By late afternoon, schools in Lake and Porter counties were posting Monday cancellation notices. Among those were schools in East Chicago, Hammond, Hebron, Highland, Lake Central, Portage Township, Valparaiso schools, Union Township schools, and Tri-Creek schools.
Parts of Northwest Indiana were already seeing 10 inches of snow by Sunday afternoon, and weather forecasters were calling for as much as 16 inches by the time the storm was done.
Both Lake and Porter counties were under a blizzard warning through the end of Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. Wind speeds were expected to average 20 to 30 mph and could get up to 45 mph.
Chesterton had 12 inches of snow by 4 p.m., Valparaiso had reports of 11.2 inches as of 3:30 p.m. and Schererville had 10.5 inches by 3:30 p.m. Sunday, according to the NWS.
Although the blizzard warning was set to end at midnight Sunday, more snow could follow Monday with lake-effect precipitation, said Amy Seeley, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
Where that snow will fall is unknown, though.
“It’s hard to say,” Seeley said. “We’re still working on it.”
Some area businesses closed Sunday, including Hunch Furs on U.S. 30. Owner Owner David Hunch said he still went in to make sure the building was OK and the parking lot got plowed.
Hunch, who lives in Valparaiso, said driving on U.S. 30 wasn’t too bad.
“The side roads were bumpy,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sunday didn’t go as planned for Jackie and Carl Holden.
The Merrillville couple had to scrap their plans to watch the Super Bowl at a friend’s party and instead had to spend the day shoveling out of their home with no electricity.They lost power around 8 a.m. Sunday and it still hadn’t come back on that evening.
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The Holdens borrowed a generator from a neighbor in exchange for taking care of his driveway. Despite the lack of electricity, Jackie Holden wasn’t too upset about the storm. They consider themselves lucky because they hadn’t lost power in several years, she said.
“I can’t be crabby,” she said.
The Indiana Department of Homeland Security put Lake County under a travel watch as of Sunday afternoon, which calls for only essential travel. Porter County was under the less-restrictive travel advisory. Indiana State Police said there had been numerous slide offs but that they had caused only minor damage and injuries.
East Chicago police Chief Mark Becker said his city had seven or eight crashes since midnight Saturday.
Gary announced that its main focus Sunday was on clearing the main roads. Side roads and alleys could take until Tuesday to get cleared.
Griffith Town Councilman Rick Ryfa said the town’s streets were still passable but slick in spots.
Despite slick roads, Garcia and his group of friends ventured out to watch the Super Bowl at Growlers in Highland. Coming out for the Super Bowl is a nice way to end the season, said Dawn Wurtzbacher, of Hammond’s Hessville section.
“It’s our last hurrah, and then we start devoting all our time to hockey,” she said. “Everyone starts bringing out their hockey jerseys.”
Myron Chapman, who brought in a couple of leather couches for viewing, said the weather definitely put a damper on the usual festivities. Still, there were more people out than he expected.
“It’s the Super Bowl, one of the biggest days of the year,” Chapman said. “We just want to see people get together with their friends and everyone enjoying themselves.”
Teresa Auch Schultz is a Post-Tribune staff reporter. Michelle L. Quinn and Amy LaValley are freelancers.