[Updated: MoCo, Bloomington closed Friday] Don’t travel: Monroe County warning in effect as of 4:50 a.m. Feb. 3, 2022

Monroe County is under a travel warning as of 4:50 a.m. Thursday morning. Travel is restricted to emergency management workers.

That means you should not be out on the roads unless you are an emergency management worker.

If you are in a dire circumstance (but not a 911 emergency) that makes you believe you need to travel, Monroe County’s emergency management office advises contacting the Indiana State Police or the Monroe County sheriff’s office (812-349-2780).

The National Weather Service has a winter storm warning in place through 1 a.m. on Friday.

[Added at 3 p.m. on Feb. 3, 2022. This just in from from the Monroe County emergency management text alert system: “Due to severe weather and extremely cold temperatures, Monroe County offices will be closed tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022. This includes the courts and prosecutor’s offices. The “red” level travel warning status will remain in effect through the day tomorrow, Feb 4, 2022 until reassessed. This means individuals are directed to refrain from travel as it is unsafe to drive in.”]

[Added 7:04 p.m. on Feb. 3, 2022. City of Bloomington offices will be closed on Friday, Feb. 4, according to the mayor’s office. ]

The total daytime snow accumulation could be from  3 to 7 inches. The NWS forecast for the Bloomington area  calls for patchy blowing snow after 1 p.m. with temperatures falling from the current 27 F degrees to around 23 F.

Winds will be out of the north and northeast blowing around 16 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. Chance of precipitation through the day is 100 percent, according to the forecast.

As of around 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, the temperature was holding at 27 F degrees with sleet falling out of the sky. An accumulation of slushy snow mix was a half inch or more, depending on the location.

All offices of the city of Bloomington are closed, according to the mayor’s office, including parks and recreation facilities. Trash pickup is also cancelled.

[Updated 2:51 p.m. on Feb. 3, 2022: Bloomington Transit buses will be ending service early, many routes around 6 p.m. because of the deteriorating road conditions. Details are available on the BT website.]

According to Monroe County election supervisor Karen Wheeler, the county election office will be closed on Thursday. As of late Wednesday it was not yet known if the election office would be open on Friday, which is normally set to be the last day for candidates to file declarations for the 2022 primary elections.

If the office is closed on Friday, the deadline to file as a candidate will be moved to Monday, Feb. 7 at noon, according to Wheeler. If the office are open on Friday, the deadline will remain Feb. 4 at noon.

[Added at 3 p.m. on Feb. 3, 2022: This just in from from the Monroe County emergency management text alert system: “Due to severe weather and extremely cold temperatures, Monroe County offices will be closed tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022. This includes the courts and prosecutor’s offices. The “red” level travel warning status will remain in effect through the day tomorrow, Feb 4, 2022 until reassessed. This means individuals are directed to refrain from travel as it is unsafe to drive in.”

Based on previous statements from the election division, it  looks like the candidate filing deadline will be extended to Monday, Feb. 7 at noon.]