“At this point, accumulation totals don’t look to be debilitating or crippling,” WHIO StormCenter 7 meteorologist Carrieann Marit said. “That being said, it doesn’t take much of any ice — as we saw just two weeks ago — to cause some major issues.”
Brian Cunningham, ODOT District 8 communications director, said state crews are watching the weather systems to see if and when the freezing rain will come.
“We’ll have crews on standby if needed,” Cunningham said.
They are also monitoring the pavement and bridge temperatures. Cunningham said this week’s weather has helped raise the pavement temperatures.
Instead of pre-treating roads, road crews throughout the area have little choice but to take a wait-and-see approach for any dry periods between the rainfall and freezing rain.
“In ideal conditions, if it’s dry before any precipitation comes in, we put down brine on the roads ahead of the event,” Kettering public service director Dave Duritsch said. “Because you’re dealing with rain first, anything you put on as a pre-treatment would wash away before it has any effect.”
Without being able to pre-treat roads, motorists should expect slick spots on roadways during morning commutes today, as any wet spots from Thursday’s rain could have frozen over thanks to temperatures starting off in the 20s. Fortunately, temperatures are expected to rise to the upper 30s through mid-day.
Tonight will be a much different story, as the storm system bringing sleet and freezing rain to the area will make its way through the area overnight. The system, which will approach from the south, will impact areas like Butler and Warren counties first, before reaching counties like Montgomery and Greene.
Counties further north, like Clark and Champaign, will likely see the least amount of precipitation throughout the weekend, though the entire area shouldn’t expect heavy amounts of precipitation, according to Marit.
The threat for freezing rain and sleet exists late at night and early mornings, as daytime temperatures Saturday and Sunday will climb above freezing, allowing for precipitation to change to just rain, especially south of Dayton.
Butler County Engineer’s Office spokesman Chris Petrocy said their trucks are “loaded with salt and are ready to go” in preparation for the potentially icy weekend.
“All we can do is wait,” Petrocy said.
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