The National Weather Service has upgraded Columbus and portions of central Ohio to a winter storm warning , increasing the forecasted total snow accumulation to 5-7 inches through 1 a.m. Saturday.
And several area counties have declared Level 1 snow emergencies including: Delaware, Licking, Madison, Morrow, Pickaway and Union. Level 1 emergencies indicate hazardous roadways with blowing and drifting snow.
Up to 8 inches are possible in isolated areas affected by the warning, which includes Franklin, Delaware and Licking counties in central Ohio.
The storm warning also includes eastern Indiana and western Ohio, with a heavy band of snowfall largely falling on either side of the Interstate 70 corridor headed west to east.
The NWS had originally forecast up to 4 inches of snow for central and southern Ohio under a winter weather advisory issued earlier. But steady, heavy snowfall — which has been falling in central Ohio since around 2 p.m. — has led the agency to revise its forecast upwards and to switch to a storm warning.