ZANESVILLE — When Punxsutawney Phil recently predicted six more weeks of winter, he wasn’t kidding.
The storm Mother Nature dealt southeast Ohio this weekend left a thick blanket of snow, treacherous roads and thousands of power outages in its wake.
The snow began to fall Friday morning, picking up speed to blanket the area and make roads slick. it intensified overnight with additional inches by Saturday morning. as the white stuff covered the roads, it also coated and weighed down tree limbs and power lines resulting in widespread power outages.
At its peak, more than 47,000 AEP Ohio customers were without power. The hardest hit might have been Muskingum County, with about 7,000 without power early Saturday morning. by 4 p.m. Saturday, AEP reported 2,017 still without power in Muskingum County.
Paul Prater, community affairs manager with AEP, said power is expected to be restored to 95 percent of affected customers by midnight tonight.
“There are big outages on certain circuits,” he said. “It’s difficult to get into places to assess the damage; many roads are not passable, especially in rural locations. Our crews are out doing the best they can. be patient because it’s going to take a while.”
The Guernsey-Muskingum Electric Cooperative also advised its customers that the majority of outages wouldn’t be restored until Sunday or Monday. Additional crews were brought in from out of state Sunday morning to assist already hard-working crews.
While law enforcement and emergency personnel were busy responding to numerous accidents on Friday, Saturday’s activity remained fairly calm. Dispatchers with highway patrol posts and sheriff’s offices reported only minor accidents such as slide-offs with no significant damage.
Road crews were better able to clear hazardous roadways because many drivers heeded the snow emergency levels declared for area counties. from 9 p.m. Friday to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Muskingum County was under a Code Red, which means road conditions severely worsened and inclement weather affected the treatment and/or clearing of roadways; only emergency and safety crews be on the roadways. The Muskingum County Sheriff’s Office then downgraded the advisory to a Code Yellow early Saturday afternoon, but advised roads still might be hazardous and drivers who feel it necessary to travel should use caution.
Guernsey, Perry and Noble counties remained under a Level 3 for most of Saturday, but as of 4 p.m. Saturday Guernsey and Noble counties had been downgraded to a Level 2. Coshocton and Morgan counties also were under a Level 2, meaning roadways are hazardous with blowing and drifting snow. only those who feel it is necessary to drive should be out on the roadways, and should contact their employers to see if they should report to work.
Wayne Township trustee Stephen Tyo said by noon Friday, he embarked on checking township roads encompassed in more than 30 miles. he said Lawhead Lane is probably the worst and was closed down because of hazardous conditions. Wayne Township spends about $50,000 of its budget on snow removal.
Dave Dodson, a Springfield Township trustee, said no roads in his area are any worse off than others, but it changes depending on the storm. The township has a snow plow, as well as three full-time employees to remove snow. Springfield Township’s area includes South Zanesville, and has the cleanest roads in the county, Dodson said.
Both have several trucks to help with the heavy lifting. like county and city crews, these township crews took a breather Friday evening, then hit the roads full force early Saturday morning until roads became more passable.
Snow gently tapered off by Saturday afternoon, and the winter storm warning was canceled by 3 p.m. but motorists were urged maintain caution when traveling because of 15 to 25 mph winds causing blowing and drifting snow, said Brandon Roux, Live Doppler 10 meteorologist with WBNS/10TV in Columbus. When all is said and done, the area has seen close to if not more than a foot of snow.
“We depend on weather spotters (in areas like Zanesville); we had one call in from the Zanesville area and report 15 inches of snow,” Roux said. “In the general vicinity, we’re reporting anywhere from 9 to 14.2 inches of snow along the Interstate 70 corridor. but it’s going to get better Sunday; the winds will die down and even though it’ll be chilly, it should be dry through Sunday and Monday.
Snow showers are expected to pop up again by Tuesday, however. here is a look at the forecast, according to the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh.
Sunday — Partly sunny, with a high near 25. North wind around 6 mph.
Sunday night — Partly cloudy, with a low around 12. North wind around 6 mph becoming calm.
Monday — Mostly sunny, with a high near 29. East wind between 3 and 8 mph.
Monday night — Mostly cloudy, with a low around 19.
Tuesday — Snow likely, mainly after 1 p.m. Cloudy, with a high near 33. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent.
Tuesday night– Snow likely. Cloudy, with a low around 18. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent.
Wednesday — A chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 26. Chance of precipitation is 40 percent.
Correspondent Patricia A. West-Volland contributed to this report.
hrichards@nncogannett.com; (740) 450-6772