CENTRAL OHIO -
Central Ohioans are beginning the recovery process after a winter storm dumped more than 6 inches of snow around the area.
The National Weather Service had issued winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories for all of Central Ohio counties, but the alerts were lifted at about 9 a.m.
PHOTO GALLERY: Viewer Images Of Snowfall
Heavy wet snow fell overnight across the area with the highest totals out near Bellefontaine picking up 9 inches of snow so far. Most other areas along and north of Interstate 70 have picked up 3 to 6 inches of snow overnight, with slightly lower totals south of I-70.
According to the National Weather Service, the following snow totals were reported:
Champaign County
Urbana - 7 inches
Clark County
Springfield - 6.8 inches
Crawford County
Galion - 1.6 inches
New Washington - .8 inch
Delaware County
Delaware - 5 inches
Fairfield County
Pickerington - 4.1 inches
Lancaster - 3 inches
Fayette County
Washington Court House - 3 inches
Franklin County
Dublin - 8.2 inches
West Hilliard - 7 inches
Port Columbus - 6.9 inches
Lincoln Village - 6.5 inches
New Rome - 6.5 inches
Southwest Hilliard - 5 inches
Northwest Columbus - 4.5 inches
Grandview Heights - 4.5 inches
Marble Cliff - 4 inches
Gahanna - 4 inches
Northeast Columbus - 3.8 inches
Canal Winchester - 3 inches
Westerville - 2.4 inches
Hocking County
Logan - 1.5 inches
Licking County
Pataskala - 4 inches
Heath - 3 inches
Logan County
Quincy - 10 inches
Bellefontaine - 9 inches
Marion County
Morral - 4.5 inches
Marion - 4.2 inches
Morrow County
Marengo - 2.8 inches
Noble County
Caldwell - 2 inches
Muskingum County
Norwich - 3 inches
Zanesville - 2 inches
Pickaway County
Circleville - 3 inches
Richland County
Mansfield/Ontario - 3 inches
Airport - 2 inches
Ross County
Chillicothe - 3 inches
Frankfort - 3 inches
Union County
Marysville - 7 inches
Note: We will continue to update the county snowfall listing throughout the day. Counties not listed have not reported snowfall totals at this time.
Bellefontaine, a city of some 13,000 in western Ohio, got 8 to 9 inches of snow.
"More than we care for, that's for sure," said James D. Holycross, the city's safety service director. He said schools were closed, and many businesses delayed their openings Wednesday.
Early morning temperatures in the high 20s allowed road crews there and elsewhere across the state to treat and plow major roadways and keep them relatively clear by late morning.
Holycross said there were many accidents, mostly slide-offs on icy roads, in surrounding rural areas, but no serious ones reported. That was similar to elsewhere in the state, where accidents caused traffic snags including a few jackknifed tractor-trailers and chain-reaction crashes. Police in several areas told motorists in minor collisions to exchange information and move on to avoid adding to the traffic hazards.
"People were typically driving as they normally would on wet pavement ... too fast," said Mike Coons, emergency management administrator at Wright State University, where there were some class delays Wednesday. He said getting out of his unplowed subdivision in Xenia was his biggest challenge, while main highways were in pretty good shape.
Schools across southern and central Ohio called off classes, including Columbus, Cincinnati and Lakota, among the state's largest public school districts.
Andrew Snyder, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Wilmington, said some of the heaviest snowfalls were in Logan and Shelby counties, with 8 to 9 inches, with similar amounts reported in some areas between Cincinnati and Dayton such as the cities of Franklin, Middletown and Miamisburg.
"It's really a significant storm for any time of winter, but particularly when we're getting here, later in the season," Snyder said. "Storms like this become less and less common this time of year."
Airlines canceled dozens of flights at the Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Dayton airports late Tuesday and Wednesday, many of them to or from Chicago and other Midwestern cities hit by the storm or headed to eastern cities in the storm's path. Hundreds of flights were canceled nationwide.
The snow won't be sticking around. Forecasters expect temperatures to rise quickly into the 50s by weekend for most of the state.
But Snyder said forecasters aren't ready yet to call an end to winter.
"You never know when winter will make one last gasp," he said.
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