By Chris Mayhew and Jennifer Mrozowski
The Cincinnati Enquirer

A sledder climbs a hill near Hamilton. (Michael E. Keating photos) | ZOOM | DESKTOP WALLPAPER Click here to load image, then right-click to Set As Background

It was a winter wonderland more than a winter emergency.

The snow that greeted the Tristate Thursday morning surprised forecasters and prompted hundreds of school closings, including the first snow day in about two years for Cincinnati Public Schools.

Aside from some unexpected shoveling, minor accidents and snarled rush-hour traffic, the season's first significant snowstorm was a pleasant surprise.

The snow, originally predicted at about 2-4 inches in Ohio, with more in Kentucky, left 6-8 inches in some areas.

The region's snowfall ranged from a mere 1.5 inches in Dayton, Ohio, to 6 inches in Alexandria and Vevay. Higher elevations in Wilder accumulated as much as 8 inches.

In Butler County, Hamilton recorded 3 inches of snow and West Chester 4. In Warren County, Lebanon had 4 inches; while in Clermont County, Goshen got 4.5.

Matt Wigger (left) tackles the snow with a shovel on Arcadia Avenue in Lakeside Park while Peter Volck, 10, of Clifton, tackles the hills of Mount Storm Park. | ZOOM |

And though relatively early in the season, it is not unheard of to have big snows as early as October. On Oct. 30, 1993, 6.2 inches fell overnight in Greater Cincinnati, giving the area a white Halloween. Another October snow, in 1989, was followed by an ice storm and led to major power outages and roads blocked by fallen trees.

According to the National Weather Service in Wilmington, Ohio, the average first date for measurable snowfall in the region is Nov. 7. The earliest measurable snowfall on record was Oct. 11, 1925. This year's first measurable snowfall was 0.8 inches a few days before Thanksgiving.

But it has been a while since Greater Cincinnati has seen such a volume of snow, according to Mark Bacon, AccuWeather meteorologist.

The last snowfall in this range was 5.2 inches in March 1999. Before that, Mr. Bacon said, the 6.3 inches that fell on Feb. 5, 1998, was a comparable storm.

It was the first snow day in about two years for more than 41,000 Cincinnati Public Schools students, said Janet Walsh, district spokeswoman. She expected classes to be held today.

"I don't think there is as much concern for Friday, but you can't predict the weather," she said.

In Kentucky, Independence issued a snow emergency as roads became difficult to navigate and thousands of Kentucky school kids stayed home.

Beechwood High School in Fort Mitchell, headed to the state football championships in Louisville today, had to cancel its Thursday afternoon pep rally as school was canceled, too.

Air traffic out of and into the Tristate was not interrupted significantly.

Ted Bushelman, spokesman for the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, said it remained open but with some delays and cancellations because of problems in other cities.

The airport, at Hebron, recorded 4 inches of snow.

"We had a maintenance crew working straight through all the snowfall, because of that we were ready to go all the time," Mr. Bushelman said.

There were no snow-related interstate closures within the I-275 loop, said David Leonard, an operations supervisor at ARTIMIS.

Portions of the interstates were slow early Thursday, but there were no major accidents, Mr. Leonard said.

Both Interstate 71 south in the Kenwood cut, and Interstate 75 south at the "cut in the hill" near Covington slowed because drivers were moving cautiously, Mr. Leonard said.

At 8 a.m. a minor accident tied up traffic for about an hour at the junction of northbound I-75 and Interstate 74. The accident forced the closure of all but one lane, and backed traffic up.

Other slow spots included I-71 south midway between Kings Mills and Fields Ertel roads, which backed up to Red Bank Road, and I-75 northbound between the Turfway Road and Ky. 18 exits in Boone County.

Boone County Sheriff's Department Lt. Col Rob Reuthe said there were no road closures. Traffic was slow early Thursday, and there were only a few minor accidents.

He said there were two injury accidents, neither serious.

Forecasters were warning drivers to be careful this morning, as a slight thaw Thursday afternoon was expected to refreeze.

E-mail cmayhew@enquirer.com and jmrozowski@enquirer.com

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