Winter Storm Warnings In Effect

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Central Ohioans should expect more snow and increasing winds overnight.

Storm Team 4 Meteorologist Jym Ganahl forecasts another 1 to 2 inches of snow tonight. Winds will increase after the snow ends and will cause blowing and drifting. Lows will be in the single digits with wind chills to -15.

A winter storm warning is in effect for Champaign, Clark, Delaware, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Hardin, Licking, Logan, Madison, Pickaway and Union counties until midnight Thursday.

The rest of the counties in Central Ohio were under winter weather advisories.

Winter's harshest blast yet bore down on Ohio Wednesday with a mix of near-zero temperatures and snow that closed schools, grounded aircraft and made highway travel hazardous.

Some of Ohio's largest school districts, including Columbus, dismissed students early.

Storm Team 4's Jym Ganahl said we'll get more snow overnight. Central Ohio will see about 4 inches total. It will get windy after the snow ends. It's going to be a frigid night with lows in the single digits and wind chills to -15. Thursday's forecast will include wind and flurries. Ganahl suggested drivers be careful.

ODOT has 169 snow plows on state-maintained roadways throughout Central Ohio, which includes Delaware, Franklin, Fayette, Fairfield, Licking, Marion, Madison, Morrow, Pickaway and Union counties.

The shift change was scheduled for 11:30 p.m. tonight when a fresh set of snow plow drivers will report to work. With the forecast predicting below-freezing temperatures and wind gusts in the double digits, it remained very likely that those 169 crews working throughout Central Ohio will remain on the job until sometime tomorrow morning.

ODOT urged drivers to remember, "Ice and Snow ...Take it Slow."

Excessive speed continues to be one of the biggest factors for crashes during the winter. Drivers who don't remember to take it slow in ice and snow are six times more likely to get into a crash, compared to nonwinter-weather driving.

Drivers can tune in to 1200 AM on their car radio to hear safety messages on ODOT's Highway Advisory Radio System.

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Thursday: Scattered snow showers, brisk. High 11.
Friday: Mostly sunny, frigid. High 7.
Saturday: Partly sunny. High 22.
Sunday: Mostly cloudy, flurries. High 28.
Martin Luther King Day: Light snow. High 30.
Tuesday: Light snow. High 27.

Honda Motor Co. canceled the second and third shifts at its plants in Marysville, East Liberty and Anna, affecting about 5,000 workers. The decision was made to protect workers from having to travel to and from the plants in treacherous conditions, spokesman Ron Lietzke said.

In Cincinnati, a 2-year-old girl wearing no coat or shoes strayed from her baby-sitter's home and was found by the side of a buy street by a bus driver Tuesday night. The girl was sent to a hospital as a precaution and later released.

Despite the low temperatures, deep bodies of water around Ohio were slow to freeze up.

Lake Erie fishing guide Pat Chrysler said it will be another week before the ice around South Bass Island is safe for anglers.

"It's one big slush bank out there," he said.

Still that didn't stop some from trying, including a group that had to be pulled off the ice Wednesday morning. The three were standing on an unsafe, thin layer of ice that was covered by 9 inches of snow, said Dan Barlow, chief of the Catawba Island Township Fire Department.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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