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Thursday morning snowfall could amount to 'a good three inches'

Rick Sisson of Xenia worked Tuesday morning, Jan. 5, to clear snow that fell throughout the area overnight Monday. More snow is expected to begin mid-morning Thursday.

Ty Greenlees/Staff Photographer Rick Sisson of Xenia worked Tuesday morning, Jan. 5, to clear snow that fell throughout the area overnight Monday. More snow is expected to begin mid-morning Thursday.

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Water mains break all over town
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By Lawrence Budd, Staff Writer Updated 1:52 AM Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Motorists throughout the Dayton area should expect “a good three inches” of snowfall, starting mid-morning Thursday, Jan. 7, according to the National Weather Service.

The snow is expected to continue during the day before tapering off Thursday evening, Scott Hickman, a weather service meteorologist based in Wilmington, said Tuesday.

“It’ll come in pretty fast once it gets going,” Hickman said.

With a high near 24 degrees, “it will probably be on the fluffy side,” he said.

Still, road conditions could be hazardous depending on how well road crews stay ahead of the snowfall, Hickman said.

“If you get a lot of snow and the roads aren’t treated, you’re going to have a lot of problems,” he said.

Winds will pick up to 10-15 mph, likely causing drifting snow.

“It’ll blow snow back on the road,” Hickman said.

Temperatures are likely to plunge into single digits overnight on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. While below average, no records are expected to be broken.

The record for Jan. 5 is 22 below, Hickman said.

“We do get Arctic air around this part of the country, I’ve seen it happen, even in March,” he said.

No more snow is expected today. Temperatures are to reach 25, with winds at 10 mph.

Tonight, temperatures are to drop to about 14, with winds at 3 to 6 mph.

On Tuesday in the Dayton area, an overnight snow of about an inch caused treacherous driving in some spots, with vehicles sliding off roads and into walls and medians.

Utility workers were also faced with repairing water mains in Kettering, Riverside and Trotwood, victims of sub-freezing temperatures and time, officials said.

“A lot of our infrastructure is aging,” said Stephanie Smith, communications manager for Montgomery County Water Services. “It’s not (just) a Montgomery County problem. It’s a situation we see throughout the United States.”

Three main breaks logged Tuesday by county crews brought this year’s total to more than a dozen, Smith said.

The seasonal rash of main breaks is the result of the pressure — from shifts in the ground around the pipes caused by fluctuating temperatures — on the aging pipes, said Dalton Hines, Trotwood’s public works superintendent.

Hines declined to blame the breaks entirely on the weather.

“It would be nice if we had new ductile (pipe),” he said.

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