COLUMBUS – The most severe winter weather of the season was expected to arrive in the Columbus area early Monday, making commuters’ lives miserable while delighting those schoolchildren lucky enough to get a chance to sleep in or even a break from in-person and classroom learning.
Winter Storm Warning in effect from 1:00 a.m. Monday to 1:00 p.m. Tuesday for most of Ohio. Total snow accumulations of 5-8″
According to the National Weather Service, cold air over the Ohio Valley will be met by warm air from the southwest and a weak area of low pressure, which will spark an initial shot of 2 to 3 inches if snow beginning after midnight Sunday and ending Monday morning.
After a brief lull Monday morning where light snow continues, forecasters say rapidly accumulating snowfall will enter again from the south and move northeast, bringing rapid accumulations overnight Monday before ending early Tuesday (see map above for projected accumulations).
The Ohio Department of Transportation will have over 1,160 crews working 12-hours shifts from Monday morning through Tuesday morning, but spokesman Matt Bruning says it will be difficult for them to keep up with the projected one-inch-per-hour rate of snowfall overnight.
“Our goal is going to be ‘passable, not perfect’,” he said.
More than 200 ODOT crews will be on the roads in Central Ohio but Bruning warns that drivers who venture out between Monday evening and Tuesday morning will find even interstate routes snow-covered.
“Crews will be out all night in the Columbus area, as they will be around the state, and they’ll continue to plow and treat the roadways, but again, I want to set the expectation that your Tuesday morning commute is probably going to be extremely slow,” he said.
Snow Emergency guidelines
Forecasters warn of hazardous driving conditions and encourage those who do have to be on the roadways to have a fully-charged phone and keep a flashlight, food, and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency.
Temperatures stay frigid with highs barely in the 20’s Tuesday with lows in the single digits Tuesday night with another round of winter weather and possibly more accumulating snowfall on Thursday, according to WBNS 10-TV meteorologist Mackenzie Bart.
Nearly 170 million Americans were under some form of winter weather watch, storm warning or advisory Sunday morning.
Snow is also falling across Arkansas and Oklahoma, with the governors of those states and Texas activating the National Guard to assist state agencies.
Dozens of crashes were reported Sunday and hundreds of flights were canceled across the southern Plains as the states dealt with the impacts of the winter storm.
Severe winter weather impacted the western U.S. over the weekend as snow was expected to continue falling in Washington, Oregon and Idaho on Saturday, with more wet weather expected Sunday night.
Meanwhile, Montana and Wyoming were blasted with artic cold, the wind chill reaching as low as 50 degrees below zero in some areas.