CLEVELAND, Ohio – Forecasters say a winter storm could pummel the snowbelt during the Thanksgiving weekend.
The National Weather Service said Wednesday that as much as 8 inches of snow could hit Lake and Ashtabula counties, beginning Thursday night and running through Monday. The snowfall could affect travel along Interstate 90.
“There is increasing confidence in a multiday, lake-effect snow event off Lake Erie, beginning on Friday,” the agency posted Wednesday morning.
The weather service said there could be as much as 2 inches per hour, with visibility as low as a quarter of a mile. It said the snow “could make travel difficult to impossible, especially along Interstate 90. The hazardous conditions could impact the Friday morning and evening commutes and any post-holiday travel.”
The storm is expected to extend into Northwest Pennsylvania.
Alex Kennedy, a meteorologist for the weather service, said Cleveland could see about 2 inches of snow through the weekend.
The lake-effect blast follows a short burst of snow last week that hit Northeast Ohio as the Browns played the Steelers at Huntington Bank Field.
The forecast calls for temperatures to reach 44 degrees in Cleveland on Thanksgiving. Temperatures will drop into the 30s, and they aren’t expected to rise about 35 degrees during the weekend.