HANCOCK COUNTY — Wednesday’s snow storm hit as predicted and left several inches of slushy winter weather lining county and state roads. The mid-week storm caused all the county schools to call off the day’s in-class and after-school activities, but students still had study time via virtual learning.

Greenfield-Central Superintendent Harold Olin watched the snowfall from his office window Wednesday morning, after making the call around 5 a.m. to cancel classes in favor of an e-learning day.

He spent the early morning hours driving the district’s roads to assess whether or not to cancel in-person classes.

“The roads were pretty slushy this morning, but they said more snow was going to come later, and it appears that it is,” he said, as a heavy snow continued to fall.

The National Weather Service (NWS) had issued winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories for all of Indiana before the snow hit early Wednesday morning. The NWS called for rain transitioning to snow south of I-70, with higher snow totals along and north of I-70, stating the chance for snowfall rates of up to one inch per hour were possible at times.

While county government buildings didn’t close, things were a little amiss at the Hancock County Courthouse where prosecutor Brent Eaton noted that the doors were open but some cases had to be continued.

“It’s a bit haphazard,” Eaton said, thanks to the snow.

The county roads kept local plow crews and law enforcement working throughout the day as the snow hit heavy around 9 a.m. Wednesday morning. That caused the streets to rapidly deteriorate as a steady snowfall hit the Hancock County area through the early afternoon.

County Engineer Gary Pool said plow crews had been out since 4 a.m. getting the slush off the roads and would continue to work throughout the day to get the county roads clear of the fresh snowfall.

“We’re out in full force and we’ll work until around 10 p.m. and then start again at 4 a.m. to get everything in good shape for Thursday morning,” Pool said. “This snow is heavy, wet and it’s a lot, but we’ll take this over one inch of snow with freezing temps and blowing wind any day.”

Indiana State Police Sgt. John Perrine took to social media to warn drivers to stay off the state roads if possible. Dressed in a snow cap with a fresh gust of snow blasting him in the face, Perrine told drivers to just stay home.

“We’ve seen big changes here in the last hour,” Perrine said from the side of the road in just north of I-70. “Now we’re seeing lots of snow coverage … We expect heavy snow for the next several hours.”

While the snow was hitting hard through most of the morning and early afternoon, officials at New Palestine said their offices were open and planned to stay open throughout the day.

“I was out doing some plowing early, but we’re back in the office doing some work now,” Town Manager Jim Robinson said.

Officials from the New Palestine Police Department posted photos of a snow-covered U.S. 52 and asked drivers to stay off the roads if possible. Local officials hoped everything would be back to normal by Thursday. More snow is currently forecast for the middle of next week.

Reporter Shelley Swift contributed to this report.