Musician Ralph Tourkow is fondly remembered as a talented musician who had a jovial sense of humor and a schedule of dinner dates.His family and friends agree that to meet Tourkow was to instantly meet a friend.Although the calendar shows spring is just around the corner – with Wednesday marking the first official day of the season – this week’s forecast could make one wonder whether nature forgot to flip the page.
Fort Wayne residents awoke Monday to ice-covered rooftops and slippery roads, causing several local school districts to cancel classes and creating a busy day for emergency workers.
“There were quite a few accidents, several due to weather,” said officer Jeremy Tinkle, Allen County Sheriff’s Department spokesman.
The county responded to 34 crashes Monday, Tinkle said. Nine of them were personal injury crashes, but none of the injuries was serious or life-threatening, he said.
State police responded to 20 crashes and 25 slide-offs Monday, Indiana State Police spokesman Sgt. Ron Galaviz said.
Although a few people had minor cuts and bruises, no one was seriously injured, he said.
Fort Wayne Police Department crash statistics were not immediately available.
By late Monday afternoon, temperatures warmed up to the mid-30s, just enough to melt away most of the ice covering city streets, said Nick Greenawalt, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Syracuse.
Today’s forecast, with highs expected just barely above freezing, won’t warm things up much but should keep roads dry throughout the day, Greenawalt said.
Counties north of the city, including LaGrange and Steuben ,could see a few tenths of an inch of snow, but it shouldn’t stick around long, he said.
And although the spring season technically rolls in Wednesday, it’s still too soon to be packing up winter clothes with temperatures topping out at a whopping 28 degrees, Greenawalt said.
“Flurries aren’t out of the question,” Greenawalt said. “There’s no end in sight yet.”
