Northern Ohio getting ready for season’s first winter storm

CLEVELAND (AP) — Tow-truck drivers, snowplow operators and Christmas tree farmers across Ohio are getting ready for what is likely to be the first winter storm of the season.

Freezing rain and small amounts of snow were expected to cover parts of northern Ohio beginning late Tuesday. High winds also could be a problem throughout Ohio today.

The state likely will miss the worst of it as blizzard warnings have been posted in Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois.

In Ohio’s snow belt northeast of Cleveland, a blast of snow would be welcome at the Sarna family Christmas tree farm in Jefferson.

The owners say a snowstorm tends to put people in the Christmas spirit and bring in customers.

A fierce winter storm hammered more than a dozen states Tuesday with dangerous ice, heavy snow and vicious winds that threatened to create 15-foot drifts in parts of the Upper Midwest.

As much as two-thirds of the country will be affected by the storm by the time it moves off the Maine coast Thursday night, said Jim Lee, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Des Moines.

“It’s a monster of a storm,” Lee said.

After drenching California with rain and blanketing the mountain West, the storm was expected to bring significant snowfall and blizzard conditions from Utah to the Great Lakes.

A foot or more of snow was expected in parts of Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin, meteorologists said. Wind gusts of up to 50 mph could create snow drifts of 8 to 15 feet.