Winter storm: What to expect Thursday night into Friday: Schools closed, heavy snowfall

Benjamin Duer, The Repository
·3 min read
Northeast Ohio, including the Akron-Canton area, is under a winter storm warning until 7 a.m. Friday.
Northeast Ohio, including the Akron-Canton area, is under a winter storm warning until 7 a.m. Friday.

Editor's note: Northeast Ohio and Stark County are being hit by Winter Storm Landon. This story will be updated throughout the night.

A cold front will replace the winter storm sweeping through the Stark County area.

Until then, the National Weather Service now says 6 to 8 inches of snow will blanket the county Thursday night into Friday morning.

That, along with icy conditions, have caused area school districts to cancel classes - again - Friday, or switch to remote instruction. Several local universities and colleges made similar decisions.

See the list below.

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"It's a hard call to stay open or close," said Timothy Warstler, director of the Stark County Emergency Management Agency. But he said Thursday afternoon that he anticipated many schools would cancel classes.

What happened Thursday:School closings, canceled events, snow forecast

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Dave Torrence, chief deputy engineer at the Stark County Engineer's Office, said the weather was a problem for "the whole county. In general, all the roads are not so good."

"We've had nine hours of freezing rain and sleet with a little more snow to the north," he said.

An Ohio Department of Transportation camera looking at Interstate 77 near State Route 800 in Canton at 9:13 p.m. Thursday.
An Ohio Department of Transportation camera looking at Interstate 77 near State Route 800 in Canton at 9:13 p.m. Thursday.

How much this storm will impact Friday's travel will depend on road treatment, said Salix Iverson, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service.

"The biggest travel impact will be this afternoon and evening with a heavier surge of snow," she said.

More than 2,200 flights within, into or out of the U.S. have been canceled Friday. FlightAware, a flight tracking website, listed seven flights out of the Akron-Canton Regional Airport were canceled.

Iverson said the system will leave the Akron-Canton area by 1 p.m. Friday and be replaced by a cold front. This weekend's forecast includes single digit lows.

Warstler said the colder temperatures are the reason warming centers were opened in Canton.

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Canton and the Refuge of Hope have joined efforts to open warming centers from 6 p.m. today through 8 a.m. Sunday, according to a news release from Tammy Diener in the mayor's office.

The Stark Area Regional Transit Authority is offering transportation to the sites and the American Red Cross is providing cots and blankets, both with COVID-19 precautions in place. These include masks, social distancing and hand sanitizing.

Police and firefighters are assisting at the centers and will be checking on residents who they find outdoors in the cold weather.

Closed school districts in Stark County area for Friday

  • Alliance City

  • Brown Local

  • Canton Local

  • Canton City

  • Dalton Local

  • Fairless Local

  • Jackson Local

  • Louisville City

  • Lake Local

  • Marlington Local

  • Massillon City

  • Minerva Local (remote instruction)

  • North Canton City

  • Northwest Local

  • Osnaburg Local

  • Perry Local

  • Plain Local

  • Sandy Valley Local

  • St. Thomas Aquinas High

  • Tuslaw Local

  • West Branch Local

Expanded list: WEWS 5

Also closed: Canton College Preparatory School, Lake Center Christian School, Wright Preparatory Academy, The Golden Key School, St. Paul Catholic School, St. Michael Elementary and numeros preschools.

Colleges that are closed or going remote for Friday

  • Aultman College

  • University of Akron (all campuses)

  • Kent State University (all campuses)

  • Malone University (remote)

  • University of Mount Union

  • Walsh University (remote)

Delaying operations or services

  • YMCA of Central Stark County to open all facilities at 10 a.m.

  • YMCA of Western Stark County to open facilities at 9 a.m.

What they are saying about Winter Storm Landon on social media

Here's a sampling of what people said Thursday on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms regarding the storm:

Staff writer Lori Steineck contributed to this story.

Reach Benjamin Duer at 330-580-8567 or ben.duer@cantonrep.com

Follow on Twitter @bduerREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: What Stark County can expect from Winter Storm Landon into Friday