The heavy snowfall on Friday night and Saturday morning, evident to anyone peering out of the windows of their homes, appeared to bring public life to a near standstill on Saturday.
Although there were deep snow drifts, those belied the actual amount of snow that fell in Cambridge. According to an employee at the City Water Plant, which takes the official precipitation measurements, the snowfall as of Saturday morning was "4 inches on the money."
Accumulation may have mounted after the measurement, though, as some national media outlets were reporting up to 8 inches of snow had fallen in the Guernsey County.
The inclement weather, which saw temperatures drop by about 40 degrees from the high on Thursday, resulted in a number of accidents, including a rollover crash on Interstate 70. However the dispatcher at the Cambridge post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol said that, as of mid-afternoon on Saturday, there had been no serious injury crashes.
The rollover occurred at about 12:15 p.m. Saturday when a semi-tractor trailer overturned in the westbound lanes of I-70 at about the 184 mile marker, east of Cambridge.
Several callers reported the crash — with the second caller advising that a male may have been trapped inside the cab. However, that proved not to be the case, the dispatcher said.
The Old Washington Volunteer Fire Department had dispatched an emergency medical squad and a rescue truck to the scene. The dispatcher said a portion of the interstate was closed for a period but had reopened in the afternoon. The investigation was continuing at press time.
On Friday night at 7:17, a two-car crash with injuries was reported on Marietta Road, but details were unavailable at press time.
Although the number and severity of crashes apparently was limited, the weather wreaked havoc on many vehicles both in the city and in the county. In the city, disabled vehicles were reported on Eighth Street at Beatty Avenue, on North 14th Street and two on Southgate Parkway.
In the county, disabled vehicles were on Interstate 77 at the 44 mile marker, on Claysville Road at Phillips Road and at Westview Road, in the 12,000 block of the East Pike and at U.S. 40 at I-77.
Meanwhile, forecasts yesterday were predicting that the mercury would dip into the single digit readings overnight.