Franklin County under Level 2 snow emergency; Delaware, Pickaway counties at Level 3

The first real storm of the season hit Columbus overnight, bringing with it plenty of winter fury and flurries — and a Level 2 snow emergency for residents of Franklin County.

A Level 2 snow emergency, which was announced by the Franklin County Sheriff's office in a 5:36 a.m. tweet, means that in addition to blowing and drifting snow, roads are very icy and only necessary travel is recommended. Drivers are urged to ask their employers if they should report to work.

The sheriff's office had declared a Level 1 snow emergency for the county around 1:30 a.m. urging motorists to drive cautiously and warning of hazardous roads.

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This morning, Licking, Delaware, Madison and Fairfield counties also declared Level 2 snow emergencies.

And around mid-day, Pickaway County was raised to a Level 3 snow emergency and after 5 p.m., Licking County was moved to a Level 3 Snow Emergency, according to a tweet from the county's Emergency Management. According to the sheriff's office, an emergency of that level is defined as:

At 7:30 p.m., the Delaware County Sheriff's Office raised its Level 2 snow emergency to a Level three emergency, according to the sheriff's office Facebook page.

"All roadways are closed to non-emergency personnel. No one should be driving during these conditions unless it is absolutely necessary to travel or a personal emergency exists. All employees should contact their employer to see if they should report to work. Those traveling on the roads may subject themselves to arrest."

Columbus to get a white Christmas after all

Last week it was too soon to tell whether Columbus residents would get a white Christmas. But this year, it turns out there will be snow on the ground come Dec. 25 for the third time in six years.

Last week a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Wilmington, told The Dispatch it was too early to tell if Columbus would see snow on Sunday, but that changed shortly after, said National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Lott.

He said to expect the snow to stick around for Christmas and into early next week.

"The snow's just gonna stick around to the weekend at least, and then we are going to start to gradually warm up as we go into next week," said Lott. "So it'll get to Tuesday and Wednesday [when] it should start to warm up and start to melt."

The National Weather Service office in Wilmington reported that 4.8 inches of snow fell overnight at John Glenn Columbus International Airport. Conditions at the airport at 7 a.m. included sub-zero temperatures of -3 degrees with a wind chill of -30 degrees, according to the weather service.

It declared a winter storm warning until 5 p.m. Friday and a wind chill warning until 4 p.m. Saturday.

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The forecast for the Columbus area, according to the National Weather Service, included a chance of up to an inch of more snow, which blanketed the area overnight, mostly before 3 p.m. Temperatures weren't expected to get much warmer, with a high near 3 degrees. It was expected to be windy as well, with gusts as high as 46 mph.

Friday night there is a slight chance of snow before 4 a.m., with a low around -1 degrees and a wind chill as low as -29 degrees. Saturday, strong winds and patchy blowing snow will continue to reduce surface visibility, while the temperature will rise to a high of nearly 11 degrees and a low of 6 degrees. The wind chill will be as low as -21 degrees and gusts will be as high as 36 mph.

And on Christmas Day, expect partly sunny skies during the day and partly cloudy into the night, with a high near 15 degrees, a low near 6 degrees, and gusts at 11 to 13 mph.

AEP: Thousands without power statewide, less than 200 in Columbus

AEP Ohio was reporting just under 5,000 power outages statewide, and less than 200 outages in Franklin County as of 4:30 p.m. Friday. To check the AEP outage map, go to aepohio.com/outages.

"Our crews have been responding to outages throughout the night," AEP spokesperson Lara LaFontaine said Friday morning. "As of this morning, we have 1,800 total employees available and ready to do everything we can to respond to outages and restore power."

At 4 a.m., the Ohio Department of Transportation tweeted that roads were covered in snow and slick, with poor visibility. At 10:45 a.m., ODOT provided an update, saying the department was starting to see some improvement but high winds and cold temperatures were still an issue. Throughout the region there were 200 ODOT crews working on the roads.

COTA patrons ride free due to Level 2 snow emergency

The Central Ohio Transit Authority has suspended fares Friday due to the Level 2 snow emergency. Customers will be able to ride for free for the entire day.

Places around Columbus that are closed on Friday

The Columbus Zoo announced on Thursday that it would be closed on Friday and Saturday, as well as on Christmas Day. A number of places are now closed through the holiday due to the winter weather and snow:

• Columbus Museum of Art

• COSI

• Franklin Park Conservatory

• Flying Horse Farms Light Up Camp

• Wexner Center for the Arts

• Ohio History Center

• Ohio Village

• All Columbus Metropolitan Library branches

• Comune

• High Bank Distillery

• Happy Little Treats

• Seitan's Realm

• Three Tigers Brewing

• Marvin's Lounge

• Chapman's Eat Market

• Addella's On Oak

• Bier Stube

• The Daily Bar

• Nativo614

Dispatch reporter Taijuan Moorman contributed to this report.

rsmith@dispatch.com

@ReadRyanSmith

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Winter storm arrives in Columbus, bringing Level 2 snow emergency