ASHTABULA COUNTY, Ohio (WJW) — Most of Northeast Ohio only saw a few snowflakes Thursday morning, but if you live in Ashtabula County, you got pounded by heavy snow. A Level 3 Snow Emergency was issued by the Ashtabula County sheriff for areas north of Interstate 90, but was later downgraded to a Level 1.
Fox 8 News crews got stuck in the snow this morning on State Route 84 and State Route 11 in Ashtabula. That’s where our live truck was stuck this morning at the exit ramp. Thankfully, a private plow driver was able to plow it out.
There are several inches of snow on the ground in Ashtabula County so far with more still expected to come.
A LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING has been issued for Ashtabula until 10 p.m. Thursday.
According to First Energy, there are 153 customers currently without power in Ashtabula County.
Below is a live blog on road conditions, school closures, and other snow-related conditions:
Out in the snow this morning, Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Deputy Sgt. Scott Daniels said, “Very bad. We’re asking people not to drive north of Jefferson. We have about a 30-car backup on 11 right now between 20 and 84. We can’t get the plow trucks through. We have our own police cars struck on 20 in Ashtabula Township.”
Daniels said there are not a lot of accidents causing the slowdown at this time, just a lot of cars slowed and stuck in the snow.
Lake effect snow lingers throughout the day Thursday. Our main snowbelt regions can expect 6-9″, especially northern parts of Lake and Ashtabula (a foot in spots is possible). Cleveland and near eastside 1-3″. Northern Medina, Summit and Portage counties totals will be around 1″ and the further south, lesser amounts.
The Ashtabula Municipal Court is closed Thursday due to hazardous weather conditions. The court said in a press release all hearings set for Thursday will be rescheduled.
“We will continue to monitor the weather and road conditions and adjust the emergency level accordingly,” Niemi said.
