❄️ St. Joseph County Winter Weather Operations Update – February 4, 2026

Punxsutawney Phil….Never heard of him - now Woodstock Willy that is a true meteorologist!   Actually, I had never heard of Woodstock Willey until Monday when he became my favorite rodent in all the world. He predicted an early spring, which I much prefer over that prediction from that pretender from Pennsylvania. Enough about two rodents who, for one day each year, rival Flavor Flav in popularity. Let’s move on to the meat and potatoes of this update.

We know many residents are seeing subdivision streets that look sloppy, rutted, or uneven—even after they’ve been plowed. I want to explain what’s happening and what our crews are doing over the next couple of days.
After weeks of below-freezing temperatures, snow that remained on many subdivision streets has been packed down by traffic and bonded to the pavement into a hard snowpack (often ice-like). With the recent sunshine and warmer temperatures, that bonded layer has begun to melt but doesn’t melt evenly at once. Instead, it loosens from the top down and breaks free in stages. When that happens, the surface turns into slush.
Our crews refer to cleaning up this loosened material as “slushing.” When we say we are “slushing subdivisions,” it means we are plowing to remove the slush and loosened snowpack as it releases. Because the pack loosens in layers (not all at once), we often need to come through the same neighborhood multiple times until temperatures stay warm enough long enough to fully melt it off. How long this take depends on the thickness of the snowpack and the weather (temperature and any additional snow accumulation).

Our plan for the next few days

• Today (Wednesday 2/4): Crews were working in subdivisions removing slush and loosened snowpack.
• Tonight (Wednesday 2/4): Night shift worked on cul-de-sacs until 9:00 PM, then respond as needed on main and secondary roads.
• Thursday AM 2/5/2026 - Day-shift highway crews will continue working in subdivisions to clear slush from roadways, unless new snowfall requires crews to be redirected to main and secondary routes.
• Thursday PM 2/5/2026 - Based on the current forecast, the night-shift crew will focus on main and secondary roads.
• Friday AM 2/5/2026 - If the snow develops as forecasted, all Day Shift crews will prioritize main and secondary roads
• Once main and secondary roads are in acceptable shape, crews will return to continue cleanup of cul-de-sacs and subdivision slush as rising temperatures allow the remaining packed snow on the roads to melt and be removed.

We recognize how frustrating these road conditions are, and we appreciate your patience as crews work on them. This “slushing” cycle is a normal part of a warm-up when there has been significant/continuous snowfall followed by a long cold stretch, and our highway crews will continue working on it as quickly and safely as conditions allow

🚗 Please Drive for Conditions
Remember slow down, allow extra travel time, and increase following distances. Stay at least 200 feet behind snowplows.—please give crews the space they need to work safely.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation. Stay safe out there.