CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The water in Lake Erie is colder, but not cold enough to prevent the lake-effect from targeting the snow belt east of Cleveland.
The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for Ashtabula, Lake and Geauga counties, effective from 8 a.m. Tuesday until 4 p.m. Wednesday.
The good news is not a lot of snow is in the forecast. An estimated 3 to 5 inches could fall by Wednesday afternoon.
But travel still could be difficult because of squalls and wind gusts up to 35 mph. The Weather Service says northern Geauga County should see the largest amounts of snow, with snowfall rates of 1 inch per hour Tuesday afternoon into Tuesday evening.
The Ohio Department of Transportation is encouraging residents to delay unnecessary travel during the advisory.
Snow is possible in the Cleveland area but less than 1 inch of accumulation is expected. It will be cold on Tuesday, with highs in the low 20s but wind chills around minus-1. Winds will be steady around 13 to 16 mph and wind gusts will be near 30 mph.
The overnight low Tuesday will be in the mid-teens and it will remain windy, with gusts around 26 mph. Snow again is possible in the Cleveland area but there will be little accumulation.