Narrative:

Ind field conditions compared to actual conditions along with weather conditions at the time of preflight. After the first officer came back from his walk around; he advised me that the snow was moderate and very wet. Ramp conditions were very slick and not plowed. Field conditions were noted as taxiways were unknown conditions and that runway 5L had been plowed 75 feet wide with; I believe; one inch covered snow. First officer and I confirmed with the [operating manual] limitation section and compared it to the conditions that we thought we had. We found out that we were right at legal limits for contamination for wet snow and slush. No other aircraft had departed or moved. The ATIS came back as runway 5L/right had braking conditions as 3/3/3. With 3/3/3 on the runway and the ramp area unplowed; I confirmed myself that the ramp area and taxi route to our right from the gate had not been plowed. That caused a little concern to both the first officer and I. Boarding had started and I advised the first officer that I was going to stop the boarding until we got more information. I walked up to the gate and told the agent and followed up with a call to dispatch to express my safety concerns. [The] dispatcher agreed with me and we decided to hold departure until we were able to get further information. I proceeded back to the cockpit to talk things over with the first officer. I stopped boarding and had half the passengers onboard and the others in the lobby; going back to the aircraft. I believed that the field condition report said that taxiways were noted as unknown and runway 5L had been plowed 75 feet wide with 1/4 inch wet snow followed by sides to have 1 inch covered snow. [First officer] contacted the tower and we got a specific update on the conditions and were advised that they were just scraping the runways and not going to treat the runway with chemicals. We thought that was a little odd. I contacted the dispatcher again and advised of the info and [the dispatcher] again agreed with my safety concerns. We both agreed on needing additional info about what was going on. I asked the first officer to confirm with the limitations in the [operating manual]. We did reference the book and saw that we were at legal limit mins for wet snow contamination and slush. There were no other departures at this time. During this time one of our company aircraft pushed off of [the] gate to our amazement. I advised dispatch and they were going to ask him for info. This aircraft spent about an hour off the gate and did not move to our right. The next phone call I had with dispatch was a little different and a whole different view than I had with the other dispatcher. It seemed as though; everything was 'it's legal and what's the issue.' I felt a lack of understanding for both mine and the first officer's safety concern. I expressed to him my concerns that the runway was only plowed 75 feet wide with 1/4 inch of slush and snow followed by one inch or greater outside the plowed area and that if everything went just right it's fine and if we lose an engine that would not be good. I believe all he said was that it is legal. The dispatcher followed up through ACARS that two (other carrier) aircraft had taken off and they reported nothing. So; watching (other carrier); off to our right; push; [the first officer] and I decided that we would finish boarding and push back and deice and evaluate the situation at the time. Other aircraft were also beginning to move.after deicing; we watched ind airport operations start plowing and blowing snow across the ramp. They did not go in our direction. Ramp was 100% covered [with] unplowed snow followed by taxiway sierra or tango completely covered; the only clean ramp areas was where our aircraft had been deiced and our company. This was the only spot that I saw the taxi line (maybe 50 feet). By now; it was no longer pitch black outside. We could see where we were going. The taxiway to the runway was completely covered. Not plowed or recovered by snow falling. As we approach runway 5L; we found that the runway was; I guess; 75 feet plowed; remaining sides covered 100% snow with a slight increase in depth; possibly an inch or more. Looking down the runway we could see a least 1500/2000 feet of runway surface plowed. After a full 70% static run; snow falling; visibly restricted; brakes released we start our takeoff roll; last info we had was braking 3/3/3. Our speeds were 140/150/152 I believe. We had a full -800. Somewhere after 100 KIAS; we notice that our plowed runway was disappearing. At V1 we were on a snow cover runway 100%. (Not according to the field condition or ATIS report). As we rotated; both said the runway appeared to not be plowed. Once airborne I sent an ACARS message to dispatch saying that runway 5L appeared to not be plowed from runway intersection B5 to the end. We rotated just before B5 taxiway intersection. I believe that the runway numbers could not have been 3/3/3; but more like 3/2/2 or 3/3/1 on the part that was covered. The aircraft that had taken off before us may have been airborne before our rotation point because they were smaller in size. By the way; our earlier company flight was a -700. I am sure they were airborne before our rotation point. They may have not even seen what we saw.first off all; I am on scene and as a captain; I would like to be taken with a little more understanding and safety in mind. I do not need to be told 'it's legal.' I need a dispatcher to put themselves in my shoes and listen to what my safety concerns are and for them to see if they feel the same way; and if they do then I think that we are then making the right decision for the safety of our passengers and our company reputation. 2. You cannot compare rjs to 737-8. Weight wise it is at least a 100;000 pound difference and you have no idea what their loads are; empty; full; half empty. That is like comparing apples to oranges. 3. Make sure runway is completely cleared; not just 75 feet of the 150 feet. A blown tire would have not been pretty.4. It might be legal to depart on a 75 feet of runway; but I will not do it again on a plowed path cut path. Runway is either plowed or not 100%.field conditions not accurate compared to actual conditions on takeoff.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737-800 Captain reported the snowy runway conditions on takeoff did not match the reported conditions.

Narrative: IND field conditions compared to actual conditions along with weather conditions at the time of preflight. After the First Officer came back from his walk around; he advised me that the snow was moderate and very wet. Ramp conditions were very slick and not plowed. Field conditions were noted as taxiways were unknown conditions and that Runway 5L had been plowed 75 feet wide with; I believe; one inch covered snow. First Officer and I confirmed with the [operating manual] limitation section and compared it to the conditions that we thought we had. We found out that we were right at legal limits for contamination for wet snow and slush. No other aircraft had departed or moved. The ATIS came back as Runway 5L/R had braking conditions as 3/3/3. With 3/3/3 on the runway and the ramp area unplowed; I confirmed myself that the ramp area and taxi route to our right from the gate had not been plowed. That caused a little concern to both the First Officer and I. Boarding had started and I advised the First Officer that I was going to stop the boarding until we got more information. I walked up to the gate and told the agent and followed up with a call to Dispatch to express my safety concerns. [The] Dispatcher agreed with me and we decided to hold departure until we were able to get further information. I proceeded back to the cockpit to talk things over with the First Officer. I stopped boarding and had half the passengers onboard and the others in the lobby; going back to the aircraft. I believed that the field condition report said that taxiways were noted as unknown and Runway 5L had been plowed 75 feet wide with 1/4 inch wet snow followed by sides to have 1 inch covered snow. [First Officer] contacted the Tower and we got a specific update on the conditions and were advised that they were just scraping the runways and not going to treat the runway with chemicals. We thought that was a little odd. I contacted the Dispatcher again and advised of the info and [the Dispatcher] again agreed with my safety concerns. We both agreed on needing additional info about what was going on. I asked the First Officer to confirm with the limitations in the [operating manual]. We did reference the book and saw that we were at legal limit mins for wet snow contamination and slush. There were no other departures at this time. During this time one of our Company aircraft pushed off of [the] gate to our amazement. I advised Dispatch and they were going to ask him for info. This aircraft spent about an hour off the gate and did not move to our right. The next phone call I had with Dispatch was a little different and a whole different view than I had with the other Dispatcher. It seemed as though; everything was 'It's legal and what's the issue.' I felt a lack of understanding for both mine and the First Officer's safety concern. I expressed to him my concerns that the runway was only plowed 75 feet wide with 1/4 inch of slush and snow followed by one inch or greater outside the plowed area and that if everything went just right it's fine and if we lose an engine that would not be good. I believe all he said was that it is legal. The Dispatcher followed up through ACARS that two (other carrier) aircraft had taken off and they reported nothing. So; watching (other carrier); off to our right; push; [the First Officer] and I decided that we would finish boarding and push back and deice and evaluate the situation at the time. Other aircraft were also beginning to move.After deicing; we watched IND Airport Operations start plowing and blowing snow across the ramp. They did not go in our direction. Ramp was 100% covered [with] unplowed snow followed by Taxiway Sierra or Tango completely covered; the only clean ramp areas was where our aircraft had been deiced and our Company. This was the only spot that I saw the taxi line (maybe 50 feet). By now; it was no longer pitch black outside. We could see where we were going. The taxiway to the runway was completely covered. Not plowed or recovered by snow falling. As we approach Runway 5L; we found that the runway was; I guess; 75 feet plowed; remaining sides covered 100% snow with a slight increase in depth; possibly an inch or more. Looking down the runway we could see a least 1500/2000 feet of runway surface plowed. After a full 70% static run; snow falling; visibly restricted; brakes released we start our takeoff roll; last info we had was braking 3/3/3. Our speeds were 140/150/152 I believe. We had a full -800. Somewhere after 100 KIAS; we notice that our plowed runway was disappearing. At V1 we were on a snow cover runway 100%. (NOT ACCORDING TO THE FIELD CONDITION OR ATIS REPORT). As we rotated; both said the runway appeared to not be plowed. Once airborne I sent an ACARS message to Dispatch saying that Runway 5L appeared to not be plowed from Runway intersection B5 to the end. We rotated just before B5 Taxiway intersection. I believe that the runway numbers could not have been 3/3/3; but more like 3/2/2 or 3/3/1 on the part that was covered. The aircraft that had taken off before us may have been airborne before our rotation point because they were smaller in size. By the way; our earlier Company flight was a -700. I am sure they were airborne before our rotation point. They may have not even seen what we saw.First off all; I am on scene and as a Captain; I would like to be taken with a little more understanding and safety in mind. I do not need to be told 'It's legal.' I need a Dispatcher to put themselves in my shoes and listen to what my safety concerns are and for them to see if they feel the same way; and if they do then I think that we are then making the right decision for the safety of our passengers and our company reputation. 2. You cannot compare RJs to 737-8. Weight wise it is at least a 100;000 pound difference and you have no idea what their loads are; empty; full; half empty. That is like comparing apples to oranges. 3. Make sure runway is completely cleared; not just 75 feet of the 150 feet. A blown tire would have not been pretty.4. It might be legal to depart on a 75 feet of runway; but I will NOT do it again on a plowed path cut path. Runway is either plowed or not 100%.Field conditions not accurate compared to actual conditions on takeoff.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.