TODAY | Low pressure will track east across central Ohio today. Overall, it will be a drizzly dreary day across the Valley. Temperatures will hover around freezing during the morning so I can’t rule out freezing rain or even patchy snow showers in some spots. Our temperatures will warm enough that precipitation will remain liquid this afternoon, so no issues other than wet roads as you travel about the area. Look for afternoon highs around 38°.
As the low shifts off to the east this evening, colder air will move in. As temperatures cool, the rain and drizzle will change over to snow showers. Snow coverage will gradually spread west to east tonight and Friday. Locally, snow accumulation will be likely tonight through Friday.
Temperatures at the surface will cool a bit faster than those aloft, so a brief period of freezing rain is still possible early this evening. All of this mixed precipitation should then change to plain snow later tonight and into the pre-dawn hours tomorrow morning. With the modeled timing of snow showers just before and during the morning rush hour, odds are pretty good for some slick spots during the morning commute. I’m not anticipating this to be a big snow event, but it will likely be coming at a bad time.
Snow will find it difficult to stick initially, but it can come down fairly heavy at times, which would allow it to stick – especially on untreated roads. At the least, it may also reduce visibility at times. Expect a slower than normal commute to work and school Friday morning. (Although I have nothing to do with these decisions, maybe some school delays?) Snow showers will continue through much of the day tomorrow tapering off to scattered snow showers by mid-afternoon. The evening commute should be okay.
SO, HOW MUCH SNOW ARE WE LOOKING AT?
Generally speaking, we can expect somewhere around 2″ locally.
Other than snow, expect a blustery day. Temperatures will in the 30s with a gusty west wind around 10 to 15 mph. Gusts can reach 25 mph at times.
WEEKEND OUTLOOK
Calmer weather will return to the Valley for the weekend. While skies won’t be pristine, we will see some occasional sunshine Saturday and Sunday. Temperatures on Saturday will top out in the mid-30s. We will warm to the low-40s on Sunday.
I’ll post updates here today if/when more information comes in. You can subscribe to update notifications here or follow us on our Twitter feed for updates and graphics throughout the day. Have a great day!
