Light snow expected Saturday morning

Most of the Miami Valley will wake up to light snow falling Saturday morning, ending around noon. The Dayton area could get about a half inch of accumulation while counties north of Dayton could get upwards of an inch, Storm Center 7 Chief Meteorologist Jamie Simpson said.

Saturday afternoon will by breezy and cold, but the sun should emerge. The high will be in the mid 30s, but wind chills could dip into the lower 20s.

There is also a chance of snow showers on Sunday, when the high is predicted to be at or below freezing. Simpson said those showers could put down another half inch of snow and could lead to some slick spots on the roads.

“A significant warmup is in store the first half of next week,” Simpson said. Temperatures could reach 50 degrees Wednesday afternoon.

High waters that plagued the Miami Valley on Friday will linger along the Little Miami River through early Sunday morning.

That’s when a National Weather Service Flood Warning for the Little Miami in northeastern Warren and southwestern Greene counties will expire.

Water is expected to rise into low lying areas near Spring Valley, Roxanna, east of Waynesville, as well as Corwin, Waynesville and Middletown roads.

On Friday, numerous Greene County roads were closed due to high water, including Washington Mill Road at Graf Mill Road and Stewart, Stewart at Mead, and the Lower Bellbrook Bridge.

In western Montgomery County, high water from the Stillwater River closed Martindale and Anthony roads.

 State Route 720 was also closed in Logan County between Ohio 235 and U.S. 37.

The Miami Conservancy District said all five of the district’s dams are storing floodwaters for the first time this year. The Germantown and Lockington dams peaked on Friday while the Huffman, Taylorsville, and Englewood dams were still rising and expected to peak on Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday .

Jamie Simpson said the worst of the remaining flooding will be in the Little Miami River area.

The U.S. is in the midst of a “la Nina” winter,  said Mike Gallagher, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Cooler waters in the pacific ocean near South America are creating a disturbance in the global wind circulation. The results, Gallagher predicted, are above normal precipitation and warmer than normal temperatures.

This doesn’t mean that occasional ice or snow storms, like the one experienced last weekend, won’t occur as we enter into February, traditionally the coldest month of the year. However, the forecast predicts these to be few and far between, unlike the 2010-2011 winter when more than 10 snow events pelted the area between December and February.