How much snow to expect Wednesday with next winter storm
The next winter storm will be approaching our area from the southwest in the early morning hours on Wednesday. This system will start in our western and southwestern counties after midnight, and will continue to move north pre-sunrise on Wednesday setting us up for a messy Wednesday morning commute.
TIMING OF THE SYSTEM:
As mentioned, this will start from a low ejecting from our southwest into our area. The leading edge of this moisture may in fact start as some cold rain showers in the southwest, but as the colder air during the night mixes south, we will see this turning to mostly snow ahead of daybreak.
HOW MUCH TO EXPECT:
As of right now, it appears areas from the Ohio River up to the Hocking Hills in the southeast will be the lowest totals as warmer air will stay a bit more dominant in this area, and keep the bulk of the precip as rain for a period, with the lowest period of snowfall expected.
In the area from about US-22 to closer to I-71, we are looking at 2-4" of snowfall generally, with a sharp cut-off by mid-morning as warmer air will start to wrap in. North/west of I-71 and especially north/west of US-36 we could end up having a higher band, as you can see in the darker blue, where 3-5" would be a bit more likely.
WHAT COULD CHANGE:
The position/track of the low. If the low tracks a bit more to the west, more of our counties would be on the warm side of the low, and we would end up with more rain than snowfall. This would have the greatest effect in the east/southeast, and taper to the west.
On the flip side, if the low were to push more to the east, then we would see a significant uptick in snowfall rates overnight into Wednesday morning, and higher snowfall totals, especially in the west as the heaviest track would be closer to our area. But this would also increase snowfall totals in the east as well.
In addition, a more easterly track would lessen the chances of seeing some wintry mix/sleet and would have the impact of higher snowfall totals because of that as well. Where the precip would be falling as all snow vs sleet for a bit.
BOTTOM LINE, BE PREPARED:
No matter what happens, Wednesday morning's commute is going to be wet or snowy, which means sloppy and slow. Give yourself extra time out the door on Wednesday. Make sure to tune in to NBC4 throughout the day Tuesday, and Wednesday morning for the latest. Also, you can find out about closings and delays on our website too.