Winter Storm Landon could bring layer of ice and then a foot of snow Wednesday, Thursday
Storm bringing 'everything that winter can throw at us'
Ah! Do you come from the land of the ice and snow? If you live in Ohio, the answer is yes.
The ice will come Wednesday and the snow on Thursday, wreaking havoc across The Buckeye State, according to Mike Griffin, a meteorologist in the Cleveland office of the National Weather Service.
"It's going to be quite, quite treacherous," Griffin said. "It's going to be a very high-impact, long-duration storm."
Residents in some parts of the state will enter the weekend covered in as much as 18 inches of snow. As of Monday afternoon, meteorologists weren't yet sure where the most snow would fall.
"We're still working on that," Griffin said. "A couple of degrees makes a big difference."
Midweek sun and a hot breeze blows?
The week will unfold in dramatic fashion as Tuesday's sunny high of 45 falls 50 degrees to a low of minus-4 by Saturday.
"We're going to see everything that winter can throw at us," Griffin said.
The forecast in Richland and Crawford counties reads similar to those in communities across North Central Ohio, mostly because the exact path of the impending storm is not fully known.
We do know, though, that Tuesday and Wednesday will see highs in the 40s — a temperature that will feel like a heatwave and won't be reached again in the foreseeable future.
That all ends Wednesday afternoon when as much as an inch of cold rain will begin to fall.
By Wednesday evening, the temperature across the entire northern half of the state will be in the 20s.
And the rain will continue.
"It is liquid, then it freezes on contact," Griffin said. "It causes a messy ice glaze."
As much an inch of rain will fall, but meteorologists aren't sure how thick of a layer of ice will form because they're not fully certain when the temperature will drop below freezing.
"We're worried about quite a bit of freezing rain and sleet," Griffin said. "It could cause the tree limbs and things to get bent down."
The rain will turn to sleet as Wednesday night progresses.
Two storms in two days
Viewers of The Weather Channel might recognize that "Winter Storm Landon" has been used in reference to this week's forecast.
It's not an official weather service name, though, and "Landon" is actually a one-two punch of separate storm systems.
Both storms are still forming in Texas and will begin their voyage northeast over the next few days.
"The first one gives us the rain and the wintry mix," Griffin explained.
Temperatures will drop into the teens as Ohioans brace for the next wave.
"The actual big part of the storms comes Thursday into Thursday night," Griffin said.
That's when varying amounts of snow will be dumped across the state.
"We might be measuring snow closer to a foot," Griffin said. "We're just trying to pinpoint down where the heavier snow will be, but there will be some places that get over a foot, close to a foot-and-a-half of snow."
The forecast will be more precise as the week progresses, and meteorologists warn anyone planning to travel that they might want to plan ahead for some very slippery conditions.
"Unlike the other storms we've had this year, public safety will not be able to pre-treat for this storm," Griffin said, speaking of road crews. "Anything they would put down ahead of the storm would get washed away by the rain."