Wind, winter storm alerts scheduled as snow, dangerous cold expected to end the week

O.D.O.T. snowplow driver, Rob Gardner pumps an 80/20 brine mixture into his truck Tuesday December 20, 2022. O.D.O.T. road crews are readying their equipment for the winter weather heading to the Dayton area at the end of the week. JIM NOELKER/STAFF

Credit: JIM NOELKER

Credit: JIM NOELKER

O.D.O.T. snowplow driver, Rob Gardner pumps an 80/20 brine mixture into his truck Tuesday December 20, 2022. O.D.O.T. road crews are readying their equipment for the winter weather heading to the Dayton area at the end of the week. JIM NOELKER/STAFF

Winter storm and wind chill alerts have been issue ahead of dangerously cold and wet weather forecasted for later this week.

A Winter Storm Watch is scheduled from 9 p.m. tonight to 5 p.m. Friday for Champaign, Darke and Miami counties, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington. A combination of snow, wind, blowing snow and low wind chills are possible with snow accumulations of up to 2 inches. Wind chills could be as cold as -30 degrees.

Friday morning’s commute may have hazardous road conditions as well, according to NWS.

A Wind Chill Watch has been issued for the Miami Valley region from 1 a.m. Friday to 4 a.m. on Christmas Eve. Wind gusts of up to 50 mph are possible with wind chills as low as -30.

Gusts could bring down tree branches and result in power outages, according to NWS.

Today will be calm and cold with gradually decreasing clouds, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington. Highs will be around 39 degrees.

Overnight, skies will be partly cloudy as temperatures dip back below freezing to a low around 24 degrees.

Wednesday will also be calm and cold with a high around 40 degrees, though clouds will gradually increase during the day.

It will be mostly cloudy on Wednesday night, with a chance of rain and a wintry mix between 1 and 4 a.m., then just a chance of rain. Rain will become likely starting just before dawn on Thursday.

Lows will be around 31 degrees on Wednesday night.

Thursday will be rainy, with showers likely throughout the day. Highs will be around 45 degrees.

The showers are expected to continue through the night, until the falling temperatures turns the rain into snow in the early hours of Friday morning.

Winds will steadily increase on Thursday night, with rising gusty winds starting after midnight.

Overnight lows will be around 16 degrees, but with the rising winds, it will feel like it is single digits outside, maybe even feeling below zero before the sun rises on Friday.

On Friday and Saturday, the NWS warned that a combination of very cold temperatures and strong winds, which could mean gusts of over 50 mph at times, will likely created dangerously cold wind chills, making it feel like it is well below zero at times.

There is also a chance for accumulating snow on Friday through Friday night, and even small amounts of snow could lead to blowing snow and reduced visibility, which could impact holiday travel.

Snow showers should taper off Friday night.

Cold temperatures and windy conditions continue on Christmas Eve with highs in the single digits. Winds could make it feel like -25 degrees at times, according to NWS. Winds will start to calm Christmas Eve night and into Christmas morning.

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