Winter Storm Watch Issued For Cuyahoga County

CLEVELAND — A winter storm is headed toward Cuyahoga County.

The National Weather Service warns that a cold front will blow into Ohio on Thursday morning, gradually turning rain to snow by mid-afternoon. The agency predicts 6 to 12 inches of snow could hit parts of Cuyahoga County.

"Rain will change over to snow Thursday afternoon in the wake of a strong cold front. Arctic air will wrap around the storm system Thursday into Christmas Day with bands of potentially heavy lake effect snow lingering through Saturday morning," the National Weather Service said.

Travel could be extremely difficult due to the weather. A winter storm watch was issued for Lake, Geauga, Cuyahoga, Ashtabula Inland and Ashtabula Lakeshore counties.

Temperatures are expected to dramatically drop on Thursday. Christmas Eve will have a high of 50 degrees and a low of 20 degrees, according to forecasts. With wind chill, temperatures will be in the single digits.

Christmas Day will see more snow and a high of 25 degrees, with a low of 17 degrees overnight. Another 1 to 3 inches of snow could fall on Christmas Day.

Snowfall should taper off by mid-afternoon on Saturday.