Ohio communities sick of snow welcome Lake Erie freeze

CLEVELAND (AP) — Snow-weary communities in northeast Ohio are celebrating the nearly complete icing-over of Lake Erie, the source of much of the region’s winter precipitation.

The Plain Dealer newspaper in Cleveland reports today that the lake is about 90 percent frozen.

National Weather Service meteorologist Kristen Schuler says that means the area has “made it over the hump” from the worst of the season’s snow from open lake waters.

In the thick of northeast Ohio’s lake-effect “snow belt,” Chardon has counted 95 inches of snow so far this winter. City Manager David Lelko is welcoming news of the lake freeze, saying people are tired of shoveling day after day.