Area digs out from snow and ice storm that moved through Tri-State

Snow is going to be on the ground awhile following the large storm system that just moved through Southwest Ohio.

Temperatures will get into the 40s later this weekend, though it will take some time to see what fell disappear. Temps will hover in the mid-30s next week, according to our partners at WCPO.

The Hamilton and Oxford areas saw 3 inches of snow the past couple of days, while Middletown, Trenton and Madison Twp. got closer to 4 inches. The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Kentucky reported 2.4 inches of snow.

Colder, arctic air pushed through overnight into today, dropping the temperature to 3 degrees. Today’s high is just 25 degrees.

Thursday saw freezing rain, sleet and snow fall at a rapid pace all day, which carried into Friday morning and caused roadways to stay dangerous to drivers. Folks began shoveling and digging out Friday afternoon as the sun made some short appearances and flakes moved out of the area.

Several counties were under a Level 2 snow emergency declaration on Thursday and Friday, including Butler and Warren counties. A Winter Weather Advisory that was in effect Friday morning expired at 3 p.m.

The City of Hamilton had crews out clearing roads in 12-hour shifts, and Public Works Director Dan Arthur said salt supplies remained in good shape.

“Obviously it’s (salt supplies) taken a hit from the storm, but with this type of storm you don’t have to salt the whole time. You’re hitting it in the beginning to get a nice layer down,” Arthur told the Journal-News.

The city brought people in early to monitor the weather during the rain Thursday, and when ice started to form mid-morning, crews went out to salt the streets “to get a layer underneath everything.”