WINTER STORM SLAMS REGION WITH SNOW, ICE
Forecast calls for fluffy snow Monday, cold temperatures all week.
A swirling winter storm packed a punch into early Saturday that dumped rain and then snow amid plunging temperatures that snarled Friday evening traffic commutes, temporarily shutting highways because of accidents, and shuttered activities across the region into the weekend.
The region is forecast for another round of snow Monday during the morning drive, according to WHIO-TV meteorologist McCall Vrydaghs.
“This will be a fluffier snow and easier to shovel,” she said. “Once this quick moving clipper passes, colder air builds in through mid-week.”
The storm, which had sustained winds of 25 miles per hour and gusts over 35 mph, dumped 2.7 inches of snow at Dayton International Airport. In Montgomery County, Miamisburg reported the highest total with 4.5 inches, and Vandalia was lowest at 1.3 inches, according to the National Weather Service.
Weekend high temperatures were forecast between the upper teens to lower 20s with single-digit temperatures and subzero wind chills into early Sunday.
With a biting wind chill, Colen Baker, 65, bundled up in Carhartts and a blue jean jacket to shovel off the block of sidewalk in front of the Talbott Tower in downtown Dayton at First and Ludlow on Saturday.
“It’s winter,” he said. “What can you say.”
Some schools closed Friday in anticipation of ice and snow-covered roads, numerous activities were canceled Saturday and thousands of employees at Wright-Patter- son Air Force Base, the state’s largest single-site employer, were allowed to leave early to avoid the storm. Hundreds of customers across the region reported temporary power outages and flights appeared to be on largely schedule Saturday at Dayton Inter- national Airport.
Authorities declared Level 1 snow emergencies into Saturday for Montgomery, Greene, Clark, Champaign, Darke and Logan counties.
Road crews worked through Friday night and Saturday to clear snow-covered and slushy or icy roads.
Dayton put 45 trucks on the road Saturday morning to clear residential streets, said Fred Stovall, the city’s public works director.
“We’ve been working around the clock since last night,” he said Saturday.
The Montgomery County Engineer’s office deployed 20 snow plows to handle the mess, said county engineer Paul Gruner.
“We’re probably going to have some trucks out through Sunday until the wind dies down,” he said.
Ohio State Highway Patrol Sgt. John Chesser of the Xenia post said troopers in Greene County handled triple the number of crashes they normally do.
“We handled our share of them last night and we had several slide-offs,” he said.