Posted 7:30 AM EST Monday, January 25, 2021
First, let’s get caught up with the current advisories for our area as of this morning. As of 7:30 AM, Carroll, Wayne, Stark, and Holmes counties are under a Winter Weather Advisory. The rest of the region is under a Special Weather Statement due to freezing fog this morning. Details for all of NWS headlines for the area are available here.
A winter storm will likely bring a mixed bag of wintry precipitation to the Valley over the next 36 hours.
TIMING
Other than areas of freezing fog this morning, we should remain dry for most of today. Mixed precipitation – including snow, sleet, and freezing rain – will begin to move in from the south after sunset this evening.
Areas south and closer to I-70 will likely end up seeing more rain than a wintry mix but with surface temperatures around freezing, freezing rain will still be an issue there.
Snow accumulation will not be the issue with this system but most locations will get in on some coatings of ice. This will not be a crippling ice storm that brings down powerlines and tree limbs but ti will produce enough ice to make travel a challenge tonight and early Tuesday morning. It doesn’t take much to make roads and sidewalks slick – especially on untreated surfaces.
Scattered wintry precipitation will continue through Tuesday. Light snow showers are likely late in the day tomorrow as the system pulls away. Dry conditions should return Tuesday night and continue into Wednesday.
ICE ACCUMULATION
The latest data suggests that total ice accumulation of around 0.01″ to 0.10″ is expected in our area. The heaviest ice accretion will occur in areas to our west and east. Expect a glaze of ice at times on hard surfaces This is enough ice to cause slippery conditions on roads and walkways. Because air temperatures will hover around freezing bridges and overpasses will be especially vulnerable to icing. Although some localized power outages are certainly possible, we generally don’t see major issues with broken tree limbs and widespread power outages until ice accretion approaches and exceeds 0.25″.
Look for updates here on TUSCWeather and Twitter (@tuscwx). As always, be safe out there.
