Increased snowfall leads to school districts' closures on Tuesday

MEDINA — Increased snowfall during Tuesday's early morning commute led to the closure of all Medina County school districts for the day. The school closures included the Medina County Career Center's adult education classes in the evening and all programs within the Four Cities Compact. David Bieger, National Weather Service Cleveland's meteorologist in charge, said the average snowfall amount was around 3 to 5 inches throughout the forecast office's range. According to the National Weather Service, the unofficial observations taken for Tuesday morning state that the highest amount of snowfall was in Hinckley Township at 3.5 inches and the lowest was 1.5 inches in Homer Township. Bieger said snowfall began Monday night into early Tuesday morning, with the peak from 5 to 7 a.m. The snowfall rate during the peak was around 1 inch an hour. "It really picked up just as that early morning commute was beginning to happen," Bieger said. "That was when we saw some of the heaviest snows." When there is a heavier snowfall, Bieger said that it typically has corresponding reductions in visibility while driving. Bieger encourages anyone driving in the heavier snowfall, especially when there's low visibility, to be cautious while driving. He said people should slow down, give themselves distance between other vehicles, and not overdrive the conditions. While the snow will slow down, Bieger said the region will experience lower temperatures later this week, with some areas expecting single-digit temperatures. According to the National Weather Service, today's high is epected to be near 32 degrees and the low is around 21 degrees. There is an 80 percent chance of snow, with a new accumulation of less than a half-inch possible. Thursday's high is near 26 degrees during the day, but the National Weather Service predicts temperatures will dip into the single digits, with a low around 8 degrees. "(I) just want to encourage folks to make sure that they're taking the appropriate actions for them to deal with those cooler temperatures out there," Bieger said. Contact reporter Sara Crawford at (330) 721-4063 or scrawford@medina-gazette.com.