Daryl Eckel probably doesn’t need a weather report to tell him when each winter’s first substantial storm is on its way.
His telephone will do.
“We’ve been getting quite a few calls for snowblowers – and a few generators,” Mr. Eckel, who runs a small-engine repair and maintenance service from a workshop behind his home on Dowling Road in southern Perrysburg Township, said Wednesday afternoon. “We got three more this morning, and it’s the same deal: ‘It won’t start.’”
And this time around, the forecasts for high wind, sharply colder air, and accumulating snow that is likely to blow and drift for several days happen to coincide with one of the busiest travel times of the year – the run-up to Christmas.
“We are hearing that travelers are heading out earlier to try to beat the storm,” Kara Hitchens, a spokesman for AAA Northwest Ohio, said Wednesday morning. “Some airlines are giving flyers the chance to change their plans to avoid any weather delays that may happen.”
The storm is expected to reach northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan mainly as rain during the day Thursday, although some areas could start with a wintry mix.
But forecasters including Jay Berschback, the chief meteorologist at WTVG-TV, Channel 13, expect a rapid changeover to snow and plunging temperatures Thursday evening into early Friday.
While snowfall amounts are expected to be modest in the Toledo area – Mr. Berschback said he expects only 1 to 3 inches overnight followed by a second, lesser snowfall Friday night – high winds are forecast to cause blowing and drifting on both Friday and Saturday.
National Weather Service offices in Cleveland, White Lake, Mich., and North Webster, Ind., all posted winter storm warnings Wednesday afternoon covering all of northwest Ohio and lower Michigan that are effective from Thursday evening until Saturday morning.
The White Lake office’s warning for Monroe and Lenawee counties predicted 2 to 4 inches of snowfall there, while the North Webster office predicted snowfalls of 2 to 4 inches in Putnam, Paulding, Van Wert, and Allen counties; 3 to 5 inches in Henry and Defiance counties, and 5 to 8 inches in Williams, Fulton, and Hillsdale counties.
The Cleveland office said 2 to 4 inches of snow was likely throughout the rest of northwest and north-central Ohio.
“A window of brief intense snowfall is possible with a cold front Thursday night,” the notice from the Cleveland office said. “This front will bring a sharp temperature drop over a matter of a few hours, where temperatures above freezing will drop to the single digits by Friday afternoon.”
Mr. Berschback said that in Toledo, the drop from the high 30s to near zero could occur as quickly as six hours and end before sunrise.
While the change from rain to snow is unlikely to include freezing rain, he cautioned that rain from Thursday evening “could flash freeze as it turns to snow” and leave surfaces icy.
Strong wind, meanwhile, enhances the risk of power outages as well as making roadway maintenance difficult and creating dangerous wind chills.
Gusts of up to 60 mph on Friday and only moderately reduced wind on Saturday and Sunday will likely snap off the weakest tree limbs, Mr. Berschback said.
Combined with air temperatures that will struggle to reach 10 degrees Saturday, wind chills could be in the -20 to -30 degrees Fahrenheit range for an extended time, which can cause frostbite on exposed skin within 30 minutes.
The Ohio Department of Transportation said its plow operators were preparing for rapidly worsening conditions Thursday night.
“This storm will be challenging, as our ability to pretreat highways with brine will be limited because the rain will wash it away,” said Rod Nuveman, the highway management administrator at ODOT’s district office in Lima.
“Our goal is to keep roads passable for emergency vehicles, but we don’t expect highways to be completely clear until the winds have diminished,” warned Patrick McColley, Mr. Nuveman’s counterpart in Bowling Green.
The Ohio Turnpike announced a ban of certain larger vehicles and trailers that are vulnerable to high wind. Those include all triple-trailer trucks and enclosed double-trailer combinations longer than 90 feet; trucks with empty 53-foot trailers; all towed trailers, campers, boats, and other enclosed trailers taller than 7 feet, 6 inches, and mobile-home, office, and livestock trailers.
Mr. Eckel was confident he’ll get a second surge of repair calls Friday when those who hadn’t tested them earlier in the week try to fire up their snowblowers or generators during the storm.
“Some things never change – some people wait until the last minute,” he said, adding that while that’s human nature, “we can’t work on them all” and only people whose lives or livelihoods depend on repairs are considered for priority.
“My biggest thing is upsetting people because I can’t get it fixed right away,” Mr. Eckel said. “We fix them like they were our own, but sometimes you can’t do that in an hour and a half.”
The warnings for far northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan cautioned of potential for blizzard conditions, which occur when wind or frequent gusts exceed 35 mph and falling or blowing snow severely impairs visibility for three hours or more.
“Travel could be very difficult to impossible,” the Michigan notice said. “Widespread blowing snow may significantly reduce visibilities to near zero yielding whiteout conditions. Drifting snow could hamper snow removal operations.”
The auto club’s Ms. Hitchens said that for holiday trips relatively close to home, waiting until Sunday, rather than leaving early, “is a good option too,” particularly for the majority of people who have Monday off.
“Whatever you select, going early or delaying your plans, please be patient. If you are driving, do not speed, put away distractions, and buckle up,” she said. “Make sure you have that winter emergency road kit just in case you are delayed in traffic.”
Air travelers should download their airlines’ smartphone app “so you can get notifications on any changes – delays or cancellations,” she said. “Pack some essentials in a carry-on bag that includes a change of clothes, toothbrush and toothpaste, and any medications.”
Amtrak announced Wednesday it was canceling all trains through Toledo that originate on Thursday or Friday nights as well as the midday departures for its Chicago-Detroit route on Thursday through Sunday.
Many other midwestern and long-distance routes also were curtailed or canceled during the coming days.
“Customers with reservations on trains that are being modified will typically be accommodated on trains with similar departure times or another day,” Amtrak said in its notice. No trains with “similar departure times” are available for the Toledo routes, however, and later rebooking dates will keep most train-ticket holders from arriving before Christmas.
Those hitting Toledo-area roads will encounter minimal construction-related complications – as is typical this time of year – and pay less for gasoline than they did at this time last year. The latter is a turnabout from most of 2022, when gasoline hit record-high prices exceeding $5 per gallon during late spring and early summer but has since retreated to below $3 at many area locations.
While both I-75 and I-475 have ongoing work zones in metro Toledo, at least two lanes of traffic are maintained both ways on those freeways. The only ramp closing is that of the northbound I-475/U.S. 23 entrance from westbound U.S. 24 in Maumee, and its posted detour uses other ramps in the interchange to get to the entrance from eastbound U.S. 24.
All lanes are open on I-275 up to the Eureka Road entrance to Detroit Metropolitan-Wayne County Airport, but that freeway has lane closings north of the airport exit that may cause delays.
First Published December 21, 2022, 6:05 p.m.
