The snow is in response to an upper level trough of low pressure with some nice lift and atmospheric energy. As a surface trough forms Monday afternoon a low pressure system will strengthen and snow will become moderate to briefly heavy. This looks to take place across portions of Northeast Ohio north of Akron and Youngstown.

Light snow pushes across the western part of the state during the morning and early afternoon hours as the storm starts to get its act together. This will lead to moderate pockets of snow across Lorain, Medina, Cleveland, Mentor and Ashtabula during the early evening. The snow in western Ohio will likely become much more scattered at this time. Much of western Ohio will see an inch or less.

Moderate to briefly heavy snow is possible during the evening rush in parts of northeast Ohio. This will likely be the start of accumulating snow because the pavement temperature will be mild earlier in the afternoon. Be cautious though! Reduced visibility and quickly accumulating snow will make travel inconvenient. Plan on adding some time to the trip home.

Moderate snow will continue pushing east as we go throughout the evening and into the early overnight hours. Southeast Ohio will see a coating to an inch of snow. Precipitation slows down across much of the rest of the state as the system moves out. Just isolated snow showers are left, but wait there’s more!

Some Lake Effect

By Tuesday morning around 5am lake effect snow bands with a Lake Huron connection will fire up. The snow bands take place along the eastern part of the state from the I-77 corridor and east. A few other lake effect snow bands mainly just off Lake Erie will also develop in and around the snow belt. They should gradually drift east during the day, but any one location has the chance to be under one for a few hours. An additional 1-3″ of lake effect is likely where squalls persist. There’s a chance for more in isolated spots if the setup is right.