DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – A Winter Storm Warning is in effect through 1 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.
UPDATE 4:00 PM: Auglaize, Butler, Darke, Mercer, Montgomery and Preble counties have all declared a level 1 snow emergency. 2 NEWS’ Caroline Morse is reporting mixed precipitation, ice and snow, falling while on I-75. Drivers are taking it slow as the wintery mix becomes heavy snow, making road conditions more hazardous.
UPDATE 3:30 PM: The snow is here. Visibility has dropped to 0.75 miles through Downtown Dayton.
There is a warm layer about 5000 feet above the surface resulting in some sleet mixing in. We have sleet here in Moraine.
You can see the sleet when you look at the correlation coefficient. This is a radar scan that detects the size of objects in the air. The sleet is just a little bit larger than a snowflake. The areas of bright bright orange and yellow indicate there may be some sleet. Uniform precipitation or snow is seen in the deep red color.
UPDATE 3:00 PM: The National Weather Service is tracking wintery precipitation overspreading the area and heavy snow north of Dayton. NWS is warning people in that area of the potential treacherous travel conditions as winds begin to pick up to 20 mph.
[2:53 PM] Wintry precipitation is overspreading the area with snow developing north of Dayton. Heavy snow will continue north of the Dayton metro tonight. Please use extreme caution if traveling in this area as heavy snow combined with 20 mph winds may create treacherous travel. pic.twitter.com/wQIvJaiRnX
— NWS Wilmington OH (@NWSILN) February 15, 2021
UPDATE 12:30 AM: The National Weather Service warned of the threat of ice that can bring significant disruption to travel and power outages. NWS said to expect the threat for freezing rain from 2 p.m. to midnight.
[11:50 AM] VERY important for us to take a moment to talk specifically about the increasing threat of ice in a portion of our area. Check the map for the details, but if you’re in these areas, ice is likely to bring significant disruption to travel and power outages. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/wQIvJaiRnX
— NWS Wilmington OH (@NWSILN) February 15, 2021
UPDATE 10:30 AM: Logan County has issued a Level 1 Snow Emergency. A Level 1 Snow Emergency means roadways are hazardous with drifting snow and roads are icy. Caution should be used when driving.
UPDATE 9:30 AM: ODOT is asking for drivers to stay home if possible as crews work on plowing roads across the Miami Valley.
Spotty light to moderate snow will impact the Miami Valley for the Monday morning commute. Travel conditions will be slick during the morning commute, with up to an inch of snow possible during this time.
Snow showers will become scattered through mid-morning. We will see a brief break with just isolated showers through the lunch hour. Widespread snow returns by 4 pm. Driving conditions will quickly deteriorate during the evening commute.
The heaviest snow will fall between 5 pm and 11pm, when snowfall rates will be around 1 inch per hour.
Visibility will be very low. Additionally, wind gust will be 25-35 mph in the evening. This will result in blowing snow. The wind must be sustained for 35 mph for 3 hours to be considered a blizzard, so it doesn’t look like we will be quite that blustery.
The heavy snow will continue through midnight. Then the snow will taper off heading into Tuesday morning. Right now we not expecting accumulating snow during the morning commute, but 10-15 mph northerly winds may blow what we have around quite a bit. This will work to reduce visibility and blow snow back onto plowed roads.
Overall it looks like 6 to 11 inches of snow is likely across the Miami Valley with isolated areas seeing 11 inches or more. There’s a low chance some sleet may mix in across Clinton County Monday evening. If this happens snowfall totals will be lower to the SE.
