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Our reporters answer the winter weather quesions that affect you most, from how local governments plan to get road salt in a statewide shortage to when you can expect the next round of cold weather.
The first measurable snowfall of the season resulted in an extra day being added to most students’ weekend and extra headaches for area drivers.
Snow began to fall across the area Sunday evening and by noon Monday areas in Clark County had seen between 2 and 3.8 inches of snow and Champaign as much as 3.2 inches, according to National Weather Service data.
Neither county broke a record for most snowfall. But in the next few days, there is a chance records for low temperatures and the coolest high temperatures could be set.
Overnight Monday, forecasters were calling for a low of 10 degrees, which would beat the previous record of 13 set in 1959, said WHIO Meteorologist Carrieann Marit.
Marit also forecasts an afternoon high of 20 degrees today, which could beat the record for the coolest high temperature of 27 degrees set back in 1951. Overnight tonight into Wednesday morning, temperatures could fall to 14 degrees. The previous record low temperature of 12 degrees was set in 1914.
With possible record-breaking cold temperatures, the Springfield Soup Kitchen, 830 W. Main St., opened it’s doors for service at 5 p.m. Monday and operators said it would remain open 24/7 until further notice.
Most area students also got their first snow day of the season, after first operating under a two-hour delay.
The snow and ice across the area also led to multiple crashes and some power outages.
A car ran into a utility pole on U.S. Route 40 near Ohio 4, taking out power to hundreds of Ohio Edison customers early Monday morning. At one point more than 1,500 DP&L and Ohio Edison customers were without power.
A driver lost control of his sedan on ice on Titus Road and hit a telephone pole. The pole snapped in half and left wires dangling near the railroad tracks. As firefighters and deputies reached the crash scene they heard the whistle of a train in the distance.
“We tried to flag him down. It was just too much train and he didn’t have enough area to stop,” said Springfield Twp. Fire Captain Troy Orndorff.
The train caught on the telephone wires and pulled some of them down. But firefighters said it was a lucky situation that they were not electric wires and no other poles were snapped in the collision between the train and the wires.
The cold weather, of course, translates into higher bills later. Columbia Gas of Ohio estimated in a press release Monday that customers will use more than twice as much natural gas during today’s bitter cold as they would on a normal Nov. 18.
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