Bitter temps, high winds leave their mark on Ohio

COLUMBUS (AP) — Temperatures plunged into the single digits and lower across the state Monday as power crews worked to finish clearing up outages left over from the previous day, when high winds ushered in the cold snap.

At 11 a.m. Monday, it was still just 8 degrees in Columbus, 6 in Dayton, 6 in Toledo and 8 degrees at Akron-Canton Airport, the National Weather Service reported. Other cities including Cleveland and Cincinnati had seen temperatures warm up — to the low double digits.

Wind chill warnings and advisories were extended until noon Monday for nearly every county in Ohio because of blustery conditions making the temperatures feel like double digits below zero. Winds gusted to 41 mph Sunday in Lima and 40 mph in Findlay, said meteorologist Laura Kanofsky.

“It’s zero or below zero across northwest Ohio,” Kanofsky said. “There could be some near white-out conditions where snow has been falling.”

Falling tree limbs snapped power lines laced with ice and caused some transformers to explode in Wood County, said Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn.

By late Monday morning, American Electric Power reported that about 1,000 customers were still without power in a few northwest Ohio counties, down from more than 3,000 Sunday.

Hancock-Wood Electric reported that more than 1,500 customers lost power in the region Sunday, and some customers were in the dark the entire day, said the power company’s president, George Walton.

“The problem we’re having is, as fast as we get circuits back in, a lot of wind is doing damage to poles and knocking circuits out,” Walton said.

Cincinnati opened an emergency shelter Sunday night to provide warmth for those in need, and school districts scattered around Ohio delayed the start of Monday’s classes.

At kickoff in Cleveland for Sunday’s Browns-Bengals football game, the temperature was 18 degrees with winds up to 40 mph.