A wintry mixed bag of precipitation will move into east-central Ohio on Sunday. Dry conditions will return for Monday and Tuesday before the next storm system moves in from the south on Wednesday.
Clouds today are hanging tough and it isn’t looking like we will get into much sun this afternoon before clouds increase again ahead of our Sunday system. I’m an optimist so I still believe that some mixing out will occur before sunset and allow for at least a few peaks of sun this evening.
Satellite observations and forecast trends allow for partial clearing tonight before clouds stream back in from the south pre-dawn Sunday morning. With less cloudiness, expect temperatures to cool into the low 20s tonight.
Although Sunday early morning looks to be dry, a weakening low out of the Plains continues to approach and will cross the upper Ohio Valley during the day. This system will bring a mixed bag of wintry precipitation to the Valley tomorrow by mid-morning. Precipitation in one form or another will continue into the night before finally exiting the region Monday morning.
ACCUMULATIONS
While this quick-moving and weakening storm system will bring winter impacts to the Valley I expect they will be minimal. But, there will be a little of everything – snow, freezing rain/drizzle, sleet, and rain. Not all at once and probably not in every location, but a wintry variety will be the order of the day.
The good news is there will not be a lot of any one precipitation type to bring BIG problems (See local impacts below). Total snow accumulation should be less than an inch. Some areas may see a couple of hundredths at most of ice from freezing rain or drizzle.
I expect communities in the northern half of the Valley to lean toward the higher end of the scale with gradually less as you travel south.
TIMING
Temperatures Sunday morning will be just cold enough to support snow showers. Rain/drizzle may mix in for a while in the morning and allow for a period of freezing rain/drizzle through lunchtime before everything changes over to rain by mid-afternoon.
Rain/snow mixed precipitation will again move back in late in the afternoon and evening before changing back to snow Sunday night. There will be a second brief opportunity for a bit of freezing rain again around midnight. Snow showers will taper off after midnight becoming isolated by Monday morning.
LOCAL IMPACTS
This should not bring any really big impacts to the area. Sure, you will need to rely on common sense if you are out and about tomorrow, There will likely be some icy/slick spots especially on the less-traveled roads and rural areas.
Ice is not expected to accumulate enough on trees and power lines to the point where we would have widespread power issues.
