[5:00 AM] Despite temperatures near freezing Wednesday morning, moderate to heavy snow is expected to have major impacts to the morning commute. Precipitation transitions over to sleet, then mainly rain for much of the area by Wednesday afternoon. pic.twitter.com/1q7VOmry8G
— NWS Wilmington OH (@NWSILN) January 24, 2023
A Winter Storm Watch has been issued from 1 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday for Champaign and Clark counties.
A low pressure system will bring another round of snow to the region tonight into Wednesday that is expected to affect Wednesday morning commuters
Clark said the low pressure system is pulling moisture in from the Gulf, which will then lead to snow accumulating in west central Ohio and southeast Indiana.
The majority of the snowfall is expected to happen tonight going into Wednesday morning. The Dayton region is anticipating getting between 3 and 4 inches, while the northern part of the Miami Valley is expecting between 4 and 7 inches of snow.
Springfield’s service department, which is in charge of road maintenance within the city, annually begins preparing snowplows at the beginning of October, said Chris Moore, service director.
The department’s 35 vehicles are available to use as plows if the weather calls for their need, and up to 90 employees are available to help clear ice and snow from the city’s 14 snow routes, Moore said.
Moore said his staff members are refreshed following the bitter cold and ice that accumulated over the Christmas holiday, which had road crews throughout the city and Clark County plowing roads in shifts.
“It was one of the more taxing storms, just because of the timing and the different issues dealing with extreme cold,” he said. “And our staffing is just fine.”
Crews already were working Sunday morning to clear off roadways in Springfield after the snow rolled in.
Sunday’s snow was a first for January this year, which has seen higher temperatures the past three weeks. Clark said fluctuations in temperatures are normal for this time of year, but it has been warmer than usual, causing this month to feel more like March instead of January. The first four days of the month saw temperatures over 50 degrees, with three of those days over 60 degrees. Jan. 3 also saw more than an inch of rainfall.
“We actually haven’t had any measurable snowfall up until that point,” Clark said about Sunday’s snowfall. Snow accumulated between 3 and 6 inches in the region Sunday.
After the snowfall tonight and Wednesday morning, temperatures will rise on Wednesday, leading the precipitation to turn into rain, according to the National Weather Service. Highs will be in the upper 30s.
Precipitation should come to and end Wednesday evening. Overnight lows will drop to around 30 degrees.
Embedded snow showers are possible Thursday, but otherwise it will be cloudy and colder. Highs will be in the low 30s and lows will be in the mid-20s.
Friday will be a cloudy day with temperatures climbing a few degrees. There will be another chance for a rain/snow mix Friday night.
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