A large-scale winter storm system will bring wintry weather impacts to the east-central Ohio region tonight through Sunday night. It’s a long-duration storm so travel conditions in the Tuscarawas Valley area will vary through the weekend.
FRIDAY NIGHT – SATURDAY MORNING
We’ll start out late Friday night with snow spreading west to east. Snow showers will transition to rain around or shortly after sunrise Saturday as warm southerly air gets wrapped into the storm. Ground temperatures will be cold enough that there may be a period of freezing rain (7 am – 10 am) as the changeover process evolves.
SATURDAY AFTERNOON – EARLY SUNDAY
Expect around a half-inch to an inch of snow from this first thump on Saturday morning. The arrival of warmer air and rain will erode the snow away by midday. Rain will continue through the rest of the day and overnight. During the daytime hours on Saturday, rain looks to be fairly light and drizzly. Rain overnight can be moderate to heavy at times.
SUNDAY – MONDAY
As the storm system crosses into western Pennsylvania it will trail a cold front through eastern Ohio. We will see a transition from rain to snow showers on Sunday morning. Snow showers are likely to continue into the early afternoon before becoming scattered snow showers late in the afternoon and into the evening. Snow accumulation in our area on Sunday looks to be around an inch – two at the most.
It will also become quite windy on Sunday with gusts in the 20/25 mph range. Gusty wind will continue Sunday night into Monday. Temperatures will turn much colder as well. Coupled with the gusty wind, wind chill values will be in the single digits during the daytime hours on Monday.
EXPECTED ICE AMOUNTS
A period of freezing rain is likely from around 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM Saturday morning. Although we’re not expecting much, it will make travel on untreated roads and highways slick early Saturday. Generally, expect at least a glaze of ice of 0.01″ to 0.03″ in our general area.
Also, note that temperatures on Sunday will quickly fall below freezing behind the cold front. Any ponding of water on area roads will freeze and create slick spots. (Temperatures are likely to fall 20° in a 12-hour period)
EXPECTED SNOW AMOUNTS
We’re also not expecting a lot of snow as the storm pulls away from the region Sunday night. Generally, snow accumulation in our area should run around an inch or two in areas north of New Philadelphia with decreasing amounts as you travel south. It will be cold enough for snow to stick so again, watch for slick spots on untreated roads. As mentioned above, there can also be areas of ice under that snow.
WIND
Due to the tight pressure gradient, winds will increase Saturday night and remain gusty through Monday. Winds could gust 20 to 30 mph, especially on Sunday and Sunday night. This will bring wind chill values in the single-digits Sunday night and Monday.
Snow showers will taper off to flurries Sunday night. Flurries may linger into Monday morning (20% chance). Temperatures across the area will remain cold and blustery through Monday.
There remains some uncertainty regarding the track of the system on Sunday. Updates will be posted here should changes occur.
