The Scioto County Emergency Management Agency and the Ohio Department of Transportation are taking a "wait and see," attitude toward planning for weather conditions in the area for the weekend.

"We got more precipitation in the southern part of the state than we did in the Chillicothe area," ODOT District 9 Public Information Officer Kathleen Fuller said. "So we had a mixed bag of some freezing rain yesterday (Wednesday) in areas, and then it changed over to snow during the overnight, and then, of course, this morning it was pretty much just snow."

Fuller said one of the challenges that always follows winter weather is the problem of drying the pavement just in case more precipitation comes through Friday, causing freezing conditions on the pavement.

"Looking ahead, cold temperatures are on the way," Fuller said. "So any precipitation we might get down the road, like the next couple of days, most likely would be snow. I think they are calling for another front possibly moving in over the weekend."

Kim Carver, director of EMA, said the National Weather Service at Wilmington is reporting the precipitation type remains very uncertain as models continue to differ on the track of the low pressure system developing over the lower Ohio Valley late tonight, tracking into the upper Ohio Valley by late Saturday.

"Right now for the Portsmouth area it looks like it probably will be mostly a rain event with maybe a little bit of snow on the back side," an NWS spokesman said Thursday afternoon.

All agencies said they would be keeping an eye on updated models from the NWS and planning accordingly.

Frank Lewis may be reached at (740) 353-3101 Ext. 232.