WESTERVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) – Snow is expected to make its way into central Ohio Saturday night into Sunday, and the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and city road crews have been preparing all day Saturday, pretreating the roads, in an effort to get ahead of the storm.
More than 200 ODOT crews will be on the roads all Saturday night and Sunday morning, clearing the snow to ensure a safe drive for everyone.
While ODOT focuses on the interstates and highways, Columbus crews will be tackling the neighborhoods and side streets, which are also important to keep clear.
For Hardin, Logan, and Union counties a winter storm warning is set to go into effect starting at 6 p.m. Saturday and going through 7 p.m. Sunday. During this time, the area will see heavy, wet snow accumulating to between 5 and 7 inches and make travel difficult.
The rest of central Ohio will be in a winter weather advisory. In areas like Franklin County, this is set to begin at 6 p.m. Saturday, and continue through 1 p.m. Sunday. Snowfall totals along the I-70 corridor will reach 3 to 5 inches, then mix with rain through the morning and afternoon. All of this could lead to hazardous travel conditions.
Since the storm is hitting on the weekend, all road crews suggest that if you don’t need to be somewhere important, you stay home and let the crews work at their pace.
“I think in central Ohio to the north we’re only going to have snow,” said ODOT spokesperson Breanna Badanes. “But to south central Ohio, we may see that snow turn into rain, where we might have those icy snow conditions.”
ODOT and the city will work a total of 12 to 16 hours, depending on how bad the roads get Saturday night.