Rain, sleet, snow coats streets

1/12/2018
BLADE STAFF
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    Ralph Watson, a Downtown Toledo Improvement District safety and cleaning ambassador, shows the snow collecting on his face while outside the Renaissance Toledo Downtown Hotel.

    The Blade/Kurt Steiss
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  • Northwest Ohio will get a brief respite from the snowfall that blanketed the region Friday with snow not likely to return until Monday.

    Ice and snow accumulations hit the region as mixed precipitation changed to heavy snow as the afternoon progressed. The National Weather Service issued a hazardous weather outlook for northwest Ohio.

    Shortly before 1 p.m. Friday, the afternoon temperature at Toledo Express Airport topped out at 37, but a wintry mix soon became snow, dropping the temperature.

    The snow and icy conditions forced most schools to close across the Toledo area Friday. Most of the area's high school games were postponed or canceled Friday night because of the inclement weather.

    Late in the afternoon, a level two snow emergency was declared for Lucas County. By 6:30 p.m., about a half-inch of snow had accumulated at the Toledo Express Airport, according to the National Weather Service.

    Friday’s inclement weather came after a week that brought mercurial weather to northwest Ohio.

    Freezing drizzle glazed streets throughout Toledo with ice Wednesday morning and led to a series of crashes that briefly shut down I-75 and disrupted TARTA bus service.

    The freezing drizzle was at the leading edge of significantly warmer air that moved into the lower Great Lakes during the day Wednesday. Temperatures rose even higher, into the mid-50s, on Thursday. The warm-up preceded Friday’s cold front, rain, and then wintry mix.

    Temperatures continued to fall overnight, reaching the lower teens with wind chill values of zero to 5 below.

    Saturday is expected to be partly sunny with a high near 18 degrees, accompanied by a forceful north wind ranging from 9 to 14 mph.

    Another frigid night with a low temperature of 8 is expected Saturday into Sunday, and the National Weather Service is predicting a 30 percent chance of snow with less than half an inch possible by Sunday night.

    Snow is likely to return on Martin Luther King Day with a high of 24 degrees, according to the service.