Weather updates on Columbus roads, safety

On Feb 2, 2022

Bill Cottrell takes a break from work to clean his walkway in front of his home on Crescent Road as snow falls on Jan. 24. Winter Storm Landon could drop significant snow and ice on the Greater Columbus area this week.

Estimates suggest that Greater Columbus could see 3 to 4 inches of snow Thursday into Friday morning from Winter Storm Landon, according to the National Weather Service office in Wilmington, while areas north and west of the city could see up to a foot of snow.

Sections of Delaware County, for example, are expected to receive between 7 and 8 inches of snow.

Winter Storm Landon in Ohio: Get the latest, up-to-date forecast and conditions, pinpointed for Greater Columbus, from our partners at AccuWeather

Areas south and east of Columbus, including the southern portion of Franklin County, as well as Fairfield and Pickaway counties, could see more serious ice accumulation before the snow, possibly up to a quarter of an inch of ice. However, snow and ice accumulations are not definite, as there are still many uncertainties with the storm system, according to the weather service.

Stay safe in winter storm:Going out in the snow? Here are 3 tips to staying healthy in Winter Storm Landon

Winter Storm Landon preparations:As ‘four-headed monster’ of a storm approaches, central Ohio officials say they’re ready

Columbus, other school districts cancel classes ahead of Winter Storm Landon

The Reynoldsburg City Schools Robert P. Heischman Administrative building is at 7244 East Main Street in Reynoldsburg.

Multiple Columbus-area schools have canceled classes for Thursday in preparation for Winter Storm Landon.

Columbus City Schools, South-Western City School District and Reynoldsburg City Schools all announced Wednesday afternoon that they will close their buildings in preparation for the expected ice and snow.

Columbus City Schools tweeted there will be no remote learning while classes are canceled, and all athletic and extracurricular activities will also be canceled.

Future of snow days:‘We want kids to be able to go build a snowman’

Snow crews say they’re prepared to clear roads

Greater Columbus officials said they are prepared for a “four-headed” monster of a storm featuring streets glazed in ice, freezing rain, sleet, snow and whipped by gale-force winds.

Even amid a snow plow driver shortage, the city of Columbus said it has contingencies.

“We’re fortunate that we have so many other departments in the city that have had the snow warrior training,” said Deborah Briner, spokeswoman for the city’s public service department.

Crews from the parks, utilities and even refuse collection can pitch in if needed on the 12-hour shifts, she said.

The Ohio Department of Transportation said it is prepared, but timing the application of salt will be critical.

“We will have crews patrolling even when it’s just rain,” said Breanna Badanes, ODOT spokeswoman. “Once the rain starts to turn into ice, then we’ll start adding salt and they just won’t stop.”

Salt supplies and manpower should be sufficient, she said.

“We’ve only used about 45,000 tons this winter, which is about half of what we currently have on hand.”

— Dean Narciso

Road conditions: As ‘four-headed monster’ of a storm approaches, central Ohio officials say they’re ready

Flights out of Columbus canceled

As of 12:15 p.m. Wednesday, the Columbus Regional Airport Authority logged 19 canceled flights scheduled to depart John Glenn Columbus International Airport, the bulk of which were Southwest Airlines and United Airlines flights.

Numerous other flights were delayed.

— Patrick Cooley

Columbus flight cancellations:Wednesday flights out of Columbus canceled ahead of Winter Storm Landon

Rain expected all day Wednesday with freezing rain overnight

Jim Lott, a NWS meteorologist, said that the area will see rain all day Wednesday.

“As we go into the overnight hours, we start to transition over to a mix precipitation of freezing rain and sleet in the northwest parts of Columbus probably toward midnight and Columbus itself around 1 to 2 a.m.,” he said. “The southeast suburbs will be more like 3 to 4 a.m. It’s going to be a gradual transition across the region.”

The freezing rain will then change over to snow around 4 p.m. Thursday, lasting until early Friday morning, Lott said.

Greater Columbus upgraded to winter storm warning

The entire Greater Columbus area has been upgraded from a winter storm watch to a winter storm warning due to the combinations of snow, sleet, and freezing rain/ice that are expected, NWS said.

“Travel could be very difficult to impossible. Patchy blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commute,” said the National Weather Service.

Here are some probabilities to consider related to Winter Storm Landon:

Ice accumulation may be a greater danger than snow in Columbus

According to the weather agency, snow chances will wildly vary across Greater Columbus. The immediate Columbus area has a 25% chance of receiving at least 4 inches of snow. Meanwhile, Newark has only an 8% chance and Bellefontaine has an 84% chance.

Winter Storm Landon:Greater Columbus shoppers stock up on shovels, prescriptions as major winter storm looms

When it comes to ice, the Columbus area has a 55% chance of seeing ice accumulate up to a quarter of an inch. For Newark and the Bellefontaine areas, it’s 43% and 19%.

“We’re confident that we’re going to get wintry precipitation with this and accumulations that could make conditions very difficult,” said Ashley Novak, an NWS meteorologist. “However, exact amounts and where that transition sets up is still a little bit of uncertainty there as we continue to fine tune.”

Winter Storm Landon:Amid snow and cold, Ohioans likely not thinking about mowing grass. ODOT is, though