Brenna R. Kelly reports:
By this evening the snow and winds should have moved on, the National Weather Service said.
Though some snow showers will continue to blow across the region Friday, accumulations should be light, the Weather Service said. And the high winds that have battered the area since Thursday afternoon will die down during the day and be gone by tonight.
On Friday morning less than 3,500 Duke Energy customers in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky remained without electricity according to the company’s website. Most of the outages were in Hamilton County where the utility had 1,955 customers out. In Clermont County, 1,051 customers were out as of 9:45 a.m.
At the height of the windy weather overnight, the utility reported 22,000 customers were without power. As of 8:45 p.m., Hamilton County was hardest-hit, with about 15,000 customers affected.
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The outages were weather related with high winds bringing down lines or trees falling on lines, said Sally Thelen, Duke spokeswoman.
The winter storm did not bring as much snow as had been predicted overnight. No measurable snow fall was reported in Hamilton County, the Weather Service said.
Salt trucks were out on interstates this morning, and interstates were wet but clear.
The temperature also plummeted overnight, it was 27 degrees at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Aiport at 9 a.m. but with the wind, it felt like 13 degrees.
Light snow is expected to continue today, especially in the morning, the Weather Service said. Total accumulations should be less than an inch in most of the area.
The winter weather advisory for the region’s northern counties is in effect until 10 p.m. Friday. Snow could continue through the day with up two inches of snow in Warren, Butler and Clinton counties.
The wind advisory continues until 4 p.m. Friday afternoon. Like yesterday, sustained winds are expected to be 25 to 35 mph with gusts up to 50 mph. The Weather Service warns that the winds could continue to cause damage to both trees and power lines.
The winds will diminish overnight to 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph. Saturday the high is expected to be in the mid-30s. Sunday will be warmer with highs in the lower 40s. Christmas Eve brings the chance of rain with temperatures in the 40s, the weather service predicted.
There will be no white Christmas in the area this year, just mostly cloudy skies with highs in the lower 40s.
