With snow continuing to be a nuisance in Fayette County — reaching an (unofficial) average of three to five inches throughout the county on Tuesday, according to Sheriff Vernon Stanforth — weather.com is forecasting some additional inches of precipitation before the weekend.
While Fayette County did receive more snow, there was also a lot of sleet. Stanforth explained that sleet changed the texture of the snow in many areas. Basically, instead of the light and fluffy snow remaining, the snow hardened and more ice formed.
“Once you drive on it, it packs down and becomes ice,” said Stanforth.
Thankfully there was little drifting, according to Stanforth, although there were several vehicle slide-offs Monday and Tuesday.
Also around the county were multiple closings as a result of the inclement weather, including Miami Trace Local Schools and Washington Court House City Schools, Washington Court House Municipal Court, Fayette County Commission on Aging, Roller Haven, and Community Action Commission of Fayette County. Other businesses, such as Destination Outlets and Goodwill, opened later in the day to allow time for the roads to be cleared.
According to weather.com, Wednesday is predicted to be similar to Monday with high temperatures in the low 20s and a low temperature in the high teens and, most importantly, more snow.
“Mother Nature doesn’t plan ahead but we can,” Mary Ann Kabel, director of corporate communications with Dayton Power & Light, said on Tuesday. “This will serve you no matter if it is the winter time or the spring time or the summer time….we are always going to have some type of storms. So you want to make sure you have your emergency numbers in there, you have a blanket, you have cash in case you can’t make a purchase with your debit or credit card, a flash light, food, bottled water — all of those necessities. If there is someone in your household who is on medication, make sure you have a note to put that in (the emergency kit) so they are not without. Be aware that if there is an extended outage that you have those preparations and a plan B. Make sure that if (a power outage) is extended, you have arrangements somewhere else with a family member or a friend — or even a hotel potentially — and that those are part of that plan.”
It is forecasted that Wednesday could have snow accumulation of less than an inch during the day. This snow is forecasted to continue into the day Thursday with a high temperature of 29 degrees, a low of 16 degrees and accumulation of up to three inches.
The snow should continue further into Thursday night and could drop an additional inch with winds blowing upwards of 15 miles per hour.
“The forecast is calling for some really frigid weather coming through for the next couple days, and that’s really important. If you’re out-and-about, make sure you bundle up and know your surroundings. Hopefully people stay safe,” said Stanforth.
He further explained that when temperatures get very cold, especially once the sun goes down and the temperatures drop or if the wind chill picks up, that salt won’t always work well. So drivers should use caution even if a road has been salted.
Currently, Friday is still expected to be similar temperatures with a high of 22 and a low of 1, but winds around 10 to 20 miles per hour and the day should be only partly cloudy going into Friday night. Saturday will be similar — except with a low temperature of 11 degrees — with next to no precipitation currently expected.
Sunday could see the return of a light rain/snow mix and is predicted to have a high temperature of 35 during the day. This precipitation should remain throughout the night and accumulate around an inch of snow. The low temperature is expected around 32 degrees with winds blowing upwards of 25 miles per hour.
“Everyone has stayed out of the way of snowplows and they let the snowplows do their job. A very cooperative public the last couple of days — hats off to them,” said Stanforth.
