Weather

Arctic weather returns to South Bend (did it really ever leave?)

January 28, 2014

These days South Bend is feeling more like Siberia. If the substantial snowfalls we keep getting aren’t enough, we are also constantly dealing with sub-freezing temperatures. For the second time this year, the city of South Bend declared a winter weather emergency. And this is coming from a city that is most certainly accustomed to big winter snowfalls. It’s hard to stay creative from a visual standpoint in these arctic weather conditions, especially since I’ve been shooting the same photos in essence since late November. Spring cannot arrive soon enough.

Winter Weather — Erika Cruz, a South Bend Parks and Recreation employee, uses a blower to clear snow off the sidewalk in front of The State theater on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014, in downtown South Bend. A frigid and snowy month continued as temperatures plunged below freezing yet again. (James Brosher/South Bend Tribune)

Winter Weather Returns — Drivers gingerly work their way south on Indiana 933 past the Chase Tower on Monday, Jan. 27, 2014, in downtown South Bend. Sub-freezing temperatures and blowing snow returned to the Michiana area yet again. (James Brosher/South Bend Tribune)

Deadly pileup on Interstate 94 near Michigan City, Indiana

January 28, 2014

After reports in the national media and on social media, I was sent to Michigan City, Ind. on Thursday evening to photograph the scene of a colossal pileup. My drive happened to coincide with one of the worst snow storms I’ve ever had to drive through (and this is coming from someone who lived in Wyoming). Somehow I made it and was able to make a few pictures of the destruction along the interstate. It’s truly unlike anything I had ever seen. It was so unread it seemed like something one might see in a disaster movie.

Michigan City I-94 Crash — Police and firefighters work to clean up a colossal crash in the eastbound lane of Interstate 94 near Michigan City, Ind. on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014. Three died and more than 20 others were injured in the pileup. (James Brosher/South Bend Tribune)

Snow Emergency in Michiana

January 6, 2014

My assignment today was to cover the snow storm and extreme cold weather. We here in South Bend are under a “Disaster Emergency Declaration” through noon on Tuesday. I had trouble finding people because the entire city was like a ghost town. It was quite an eerie feeling to look down the main drag of downtown South Bend to see no cars or traffic on a Monday morning. (Because of the emergency declaration, people are being advised to stay off the roads with the threat of $500 citations by police.) The only people I saw outside today for the most part were plow drivers, USPS workers and – you guessed it – fellow journalists. The lack of people ended up being the basis of a lot of my photos today: eerie streetscapes where people should be (third photo). All things considered, it was a decent day at work with only one near-death experience. Looking forward to shooting a few more things on my “hit list” tomorrow as the snow removal continues.

Snow Emergency — Morning light illuminates steam rising from the St. Joseph River near “The Keepers of the Fire” sculpture on Monday, Jan. 6, 2014, in downtown South Bend. Late Sunday the City of South Bend and the St. Joseph County Emergency Management Agency issued a Disaster Emergency Declaration effective through Tuesday, Jan. 7. (James Brosher/South Bend Tribune)

Sledding Saturday

December 4, 2011

Max Grove, left, 10, and Simon Lozano, 11, react as they sled down an hill into Pando Park on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011, in Cheyenne. Several youngsters took to the park for sledding on the fresh powder on Saturday after a Friday night snowfall.

Sledding in October

October 27, 2011

A week before Halloween can only mean one thing: good sledding right? Well usually not, but thanks to several inches of snowfall on Tuesday evening, Pando Park in Cheyenne was filled with kids and their parents trying out the fresh powder with their sleds on Wednesday afternoon.