After weeks of unseasonably mild weather, Ohio's first taste of winter will be moving in Wednesday afternoon. The coldest air of the season will be accompanied by the season's first snow on Thursday.

What You Need To Know

  • Cold front will bring showers, gusty winds and falling temperatures Wednesday

  • Snow showers will develop Thursday with wind chills in the 20s

  • Snow accumulations will be mainly light and occur on grassy and elevated surfaces as roads remain just wet
 

A cold front will bring a band of showers and gusty winds midday into early evening Wednesday. High temperatures will occur midday and then fall through the 40s into the 30s late in the day and into the evening.

As we head into Wednesday night, skies may briefly clear as temperatures continue to fall through the 30s with gusty winds continuing.

Snow showers will develop from west to east on Thursday. It will be blustery Thursday with 25-30 mph wind gusts and highs in the 30s. Wind chill readings on Thursday will likely stay in the lower 20s and remain that chilly through Thursday night.

Snow accumulation on Thursday will be confined to grassy areas, treetops, and other elevated surfaces.

 

Road conditions should remain mainly just wet.

Some snow enhancement may occur in two areas Thursday evening. The first area will be in southwest Ohio where a slushy inch, maybe 2 inches of snow could occur, again mainly on grassy areas.

The second area will be in northeast Ohio, mainly south of the turnpike (away from the Lake–Akron-Canton-Medina area) where a couple of inches of slushy snow could occur Thursday evening through early Friday morning.

With relatively warm ground, even snow that can accumulate on grass and elevated surfaces may melt fairly quickly during daylight hours Thursday. The best chance to see anything on the ground will be after dark Thursday into early Friday morning.

Early morning snow showers will be possible in eastern Ohio Friday morning, but with a changeover to rain showers during the day as temperatures rebound back into the 40s.

The bottom line is that while this will be the first wintry weather of the season for most as far as snow showers and cold, it should have little if any impact on travel. A possible exception to this would be if the snow can fall hard enough Thursday evening to create some brief slick spots and reduced visibility after dark in southwest Ohio and perhaps Thursday night in northeast Ohio.

 

Very little snow is expected in central or southeast Ohio at this time.

The bitter wind chills will be the most impactful from this event on Thursday.