More snow is expected to hit



Ice fishermen got stuck on Lake Erie as ice separated from the mainland.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Slushy freeways slowed morning commutes, and snow blanketing side roads forced many schools across southern and central Ohio to cancel classes.
Another storm was expected to hit Ohio late today, dumping more snow on the state after the heaviest snowfall of the season hit the region Sunday.
Snow turned to freezing rain around daybreak today, creating a crunchy layer on top of 4 to 7 inches of snow and making shoveled sidewalks slippery.
But weather conditions were expected to improve. Temperatures should climb starting Tuesday, reaching a high of about 40 on Friday in southern Ohio and the low 30s in northern Ohio, meteorologists said.
Treacherous traveling
The storm that hit Ohio on Sunday was part of a larger system that dumped freezing rain, sleet and snow from the Plains to the East Coast, making traveling treacherous along ice-slicked roads.
Officials said weather was to blame for at least one fatal car crash. A woman died after her car crossed into oncoming traffic on state Route 123 in Franklin in southwest Ohio and struck a pickup truck head-on, Franklin police officer Steve Dunham said. The pickup driver wasn't hurt.
Fourteen people had to be rescued from Lake Erie on Sunday after high winds cracked the ice they were fishing on, separating it from Catawba Island, authorities said. No one was hurt or fell in the water.
Randy Riedmaier, assistant fire chief on Catawba Island, said the people were stranded on floating ice chunks one to three miles from the island.
"The wind picked up and shifted, causing the ice to break and they found themselves on the other side of the crack," he said.
A helicopter and airboat completed the rescue at 7:10 p.m., about 90 minutes after a person stranded on the ice made an emergency call from a cell phone, said Petty Officer 3rd Class Cindy Marshall of the U.S. Coast Guard in Cleveland.
Northern Ohio
Northern Ohio was expected to get about 2 to 4 inches of snow, said Jim Kosarik, a weather service meteorologist in Cleveland.
"That's nothing for up here. We've already had 60 inches of snow" this winter, he said.
Rapid snowfall forced the cancellation of some flights out of Dayton International Airport to Cincinnati, Atlanta and Chicago, said airport spokeswoman Sharon Spears.
Several flights were canceled and one runway was shut down Sunday at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in northern Kentucky due to wind, spokesman Ted Bushelman said. All runways were open today, but about 10 percent of flights were canceled because of planes' not arriving from other cities.
Sheriff's offices across the state urged people to avoid driving, saying icy spots and drifting snow made the roads dangerous. There were reports of minor accidents throughout the state.