Constant snowfall Tuesday and predictions of high winds today led to numerous area closings and cancellations, including today’s annual State of the City address by the mayor.
Northeast Indiana remains under a winter storm warning through 7 p.m. today, according to the National Weather Service. Wind gusts of up to 40 mph today will cause snow to drift, and the wind chill will make it feel as if it’s in the single digits outside, said John Taylor, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Syracuse.
As of 7 p.m. Tuesday, Fort Wayne had received 3.2 inches of snow, a record for the date, topping the 3.0 inches that fell Feb. 9, 2005.
Taylor said 4 1/2 inches was recorded just north in Auburn as of 1 p.m.. Six to 10 inches of accumulation is expected in Fort Wayne by tonight.
“We were thinking the heaviest amounts would be across the extreme northern portion of Indiana,” Taylor said. “It’s been kind of patchy where we’ve been getting heavy amounts.”
LaGrange and Steuben counties, along with northwest Ohio, are expected to be hit hardest by the storm – with total accumulations estimated at 10 to 14 inches, ending this evening, according to the weather service.
Steuben County declared a Level 3 snow emergency Tuesday, with routine travel restricted. DeKalb, LaGrange and Wabash counties were under a Level 2 emergency, with only essential travel allowed.
“We’ll probably have a lot of drifting snow in the morning,” Taylor said. “Winds will be diminishing slowly Wednesday night. We’ll still have wind chills down in the single digits.”
Local law enforcement responded to dozens of crashes but no major injuries. Allen County Sheriff Ken Fries said his department handled about 10 crashes between the snowfall’s start and Tuesday afternoon – only three of those crashes involved injuries, none serious. City police handled more than a dozen crashes by daybreak.
Indiana State Police handled 12 property-damage crashes and two personal-injury crashes up until rush hour Tuesday. The majority of those wrecks were on Interstate 69 in Steuben, DeKalb and Allen counties, according to Sgt. Ron Galaviz, state police spokesman.
With 50 trucks on the streets and tons of salt on hand, city crews were prepared to battle the elements, said Frank Suarez, Fort Wayne public works spokesman. He said plowing would continue today until the roads are cleared – even if drifting and re-drifting occur.
“It’s a little easier on the third shift because there is not as much traffic,” he said. “Crews know that they will work overtime. We will be out there 24 hours a day to get it done.”
In addition to the State of the City address being rescheduled, virtually all area schools were closed Tuesday because of the storm.
As of Tuesday night, Fort Wayne Community Schools, Northwest Allen County Schools, East Allen County Schools and Southwest Allen County Schools issued two-hour delays for today.
Activities provided through the Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Department were also canceled Tuesday and Tuesday night, as well as school board and other public meetings in Adams, Huntington and Kosciusko counties. Food-wagon distributions by Fort Wayne’s Community Harvest Food Bank were also canceled Tuesday by the weather.
A high near 25 degrees is predicted for today. At daybreak today, Taylor said, the wind chill is expected to feel like 3 degrees and remain in the single digits throughout the day and evening.
The normal high is 33 degrees in Fort Wayne, and the average low is 17 degrees, Taylor said.
Thursday’s high will be in the mid-20s with a west wind at 10 to 15 mph. No precipitation is expected.
