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Updated: 2:45 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012 | Posted: 3:23 p.m. Friday, Dec. 21, 2012

Winds, drifting snow, icy roads causing problems throughout region

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Winds, drifting snow, icy roads causing problems throughout region photo
High winds were being blamed for the collapse of this overhang at a Valero gas station, off Interstate 75 in Sidney. No one was hurt. (Staff photo by Kate Bartley)
Blowing snow in Clark Co. - iW7 shellyday photo
Blowing snow in Clark Co. - iW7 shellyday
Blowing snow in Clark Co. - iW7 shellyday
snow in Darke County photo
Staff Photo: Andy Sedlak

SOUTHWEST OHIO —

The first winter storm of 2012-13 is leaving plenty of auto accidents, some damage and weary law enforcement and rescue crews in its wake, even as the last of the light snow that has visited the Miami Valley and southwest Ohio has now ended.

In Champaign County, the sheriff’s office has handled 58 accidents in the last 24 hours — 43 that involved no injury and 15 that resulted in injuries, Sheriff Matthew Melvin said Friday night. A majority of the accidents have been the result of blowing and drifting snow, according to the sheriff’s office.

In Shelby County, high winds are believed to have contributed to the collapse of an overhang at a Valero gas station on West Michigan Street, just off Interstate 75. One of the pole supports appears to have rusted through, but firefighters have cordoned off the area with wooden traffic horses until someone from the gasoline company can send a repair crew on Saturday morning.

In Mercer County, 1,929 Dayton Power & Light customers were without power for a time when high winds caused what the director of substation operations called “galloping wires.”

The winds caused wires to sway in an up and down motion, which caused outages just south of Celina, said the operations director, Kelly Millhouse. No lines were downed, but DP&L could do nothing about the situation until the winds died down, she said. Power was restored to all of those affected customers by 9 p.m., according to DP&L’s website.

In Clark County, police shut down the Spring Street overpass, the main north/south artery into the city of Springfield, for at least an hour Friday afternoon after a series of accidents believed to be caused by the icy road conditions. The first of at least three accidents was reported at 3:24 p.m., Springfield Sgt. Scott Woodruff said.

He had no details about any of the accidents, but said they all contributed to the decision to shut down the roadway and have it treated.

Earlier this evening, as many as 14 vehicles slid off Route 4 near Old Mill Road early Friday evening because of icy road conditions. No injuries were reported, according to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, but the incident was indicative of the kind of activity that kept law enforcement and rescue crews throughout the region busy all day Friday.

Even as Champaign County continued under a Level 2 snow emergency and two other area counties continued at Level 1 this evening, some snow will still blow around, especially in the northeast where more snow fell, as winds will linger in the range of 20 mph to 30 mph even after midnight, Storm Center 7 Chief Meteorologist Jamie Simpson said.

Slick spots have plagued the northeastern area, from Springfield north to Bellefontaine in Logan County. Snowfall reports and photos indicate that more than 3 inches fell from Celina and St. Marys, through Piqua, to just north of Springfield, Simpson said.

Some spots in Logan recorded about a half-foot of snowfall, he said.

A Level 2 snow emergency means that roads are hazardous with blowing and drifting snow a possibility. Only those who feel it necessary to drive should be on these roadways. Employees should contact their employers to see if they should report to work.

Clark and Logan counties remained at a Level 1 snow emergency, meaning that roadways are hazardous and extremely icy and could have standing water in places.

Throughout Friday morning, wind gusts in the Miami Valley reached as high as 50 mph. A high wind advisory for the region and for parts of eastern Indiana expired at 4 p.m. A winter weather advisory issued for the region expired at about 9:38 p.m.

For Saturday, expect mostly sunny skies with a high temperature of 33, but it will feel more like the mid-teens and mid-20s, according to Simpson.

There exists a good chance of snow for Wednesday, the day after Christmas, but trends are seeming to push the weather system farther south with time, Simpson said.

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