The next winter storm is en route to Northeast Ohio, and the National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for the entire viewing area ahead of the storm and its impacts.
The advisory goes into effect at 1 a.m. on Saturday and expires at 10 a.m. for most of the area. The advisory for Ashtabula, Trumbull, and Mahoning counties will expire at noon on Saturday.
It is crucial to note that, in this case, it does not cover the entire event. This is only for the FIRST round of weekend snow. More snow is expected on Sunday, and a new winter weather alert will likely be needed.
VALENTINES DAY: The rest of today will be cold but mostly dry with increasing clouds. Snow showers look to move in by Friday night and continue into Saturday morning.
SATURDAY: Plan for scattered snow to move in from the west and slide east. Saturday will start cold and snowy, but it will not snow all day.
A quick 1-3 inches of snow will be possible in the morning for most communities with isolated higher amounts.
Less than a tenth of an inch of ice will be possible as well - making the roads very slick early on Saturday with lowered visibility.
However, as temperatures rise to nearly 40 degrees Saturday afternoon, there will be a brief period of a wintry mix, including sleet and freezing rain, before changing over to all rain for the rest of Saturday.
By Saturday afternoon, the precipitation is expected to change over to rain for several hours.
The rain could be heavy at times and lead to river rises, flooding, and ice jams.
The heaviest rain appears to be Saturday evening/night and in our southern communities.
SUNDAY: As a cold front slides through, the rain will transition back to snow as temperatures fall. The high temperature on Sunday will likely happen early and slowly fall throughout the day.
As temperatures fall, accumulating snowfall returns. Again, this advisory only covers Saturday; a new one will likely be needed on Sunday.
It actually appears higher snowfall amounts/more impactful snow will be possible on Sunday compared to Saturday.
As of Friday afternoon, we should expect another 2 to 5 inches of snow on Sunday, with locally higher amounts in the snowbelt. The lowest totals are expected in our southern communities, south of US-30.
IMPACTS: It will be a very sloppy weekend and it could be difficult to travel both Saturday and Sunday.
From nuisance cold rain that could be heavy at times to accumulating snow, you will be affected by the system in some way - especially if you have any weekend events to get to.
Plan while the weather is quiet! We will update this article as needed over the weekend.
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