Photo by Derek Redd Tom Smith shovels away snow from the sidewalk in front of his Woodsdale home Friday morning after a couple of inches of snow fell over the Ohio Valley. Even more snow is expected between Sunday and Monday.

While a couple of inches of snow fell on the Ohio Valley on Friday morning, another winter storm beginning Sunday evening and lasting through Monday morning could create more snow accumulation than what residents saw Friday.

The valley will see around a half inch of snowfall this morning before the next storm system arrives on Sunday evening, according to meteorologist Jason Frazier of the National Weather Service’s Pittsburgh office. Frazier said there is a “large variance” in the potential of snowfall the region will see during Sunday’s winter storm, predicting at least one to two inches for low-end totals and six to eight inches for high-end totals.

“The Sunday event has always looked to have higher potential for accumulating snowfall than what we were going to have today,” Frazier said on Friday afternoon. “Each winter system is unique. We could be pretty confident in the snowfall by Saturday, or we may still be making predictions even up to the event’s start.”

Frazier said the amount of snowfall during the storm depends on where the storm system tracks. The system tracking farther north will result in higher snow totals, and the system tracking farther south will result in lower snow totals.

“Subtle differences will be the key to determining the accumulating snowfall,” Frazier noted. “We’re hoping to narrow down the range of possibilities, and that will really just depend on where the snow system tracks.”

As the NWS’s confidence increases regarding what will happen during the anticipated winter storm, Frazier said the NWS will decide whether to issue a winter weather advisory, the criteria of which is three or more inches of snow, or a winter storm warning, which designates an expected six inches or more of snow.

The NWS issued a prior winter weather advisory for east central Ohio, northwest, southwest, and western Pennsylvania and the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia that began at 4 a.m. on Friday and lasted until Saturday morning.

Frazier said the snow from Sunday night, paired with the predicted cold temperatures on Monday, will result in snow accumulation on roadways that will make the Monday morning work commute “difficult.”

Road visibility will also drop during the event, according to Frazier, who predicted that drivers’ visibility would be at least down to a mile near the center of the storm.

“There will be some areas that are a little bit more intense than others when it comes to the storm, but everybody will be seeing snow all at the same time,” Frazier noted. “Because of that, visibility is expected to drop for people driving. If we get the right heavy snow, we could see visibility drop to half a mile or less.”

Frazier did not expect any wind advisories in the Ohio Valley area and said snow squalls are more likely to occur north and east of the area.

After the winter storm on Sunday and Monday, Frazier said the rest of next week will be “generally dry.” He said the valley may see some “on and off” afternoon snow showers throughout the week.

“Most notably, temperatures will continue to struggle even to reach freezing during afternoon hours, so cold below-average temperatures will continue throughout the upcoming week,” Frazier said.