CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The area has gone 288 days since the last snow --the longest stretch in 85 years.

Extending that number much longer is threatened by a healthy chance of snow forecast for Friday. But if snow does not fall that day, Northeast Ohio's 291 days without snow will equal the second longest stretch of snowless days recorded in 1927 and give us a shot at the all-time record of 307 days that occurred in 1919.

The last appreciable snow fell at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport fell on March 5. Five inches came down starting the day before.

"We don't count dustings," said Sarah Jamison, National Weather Service hydrologist. "It has to be at least an inch, something you need to brush off your windshield."

Not surprisingly, 1919 is also the year for the latest first snow. It took until Feb. 8 that year for it to come down. And that was a single inch. Only 8.8 inches fell the rest of that winter season.

Typically, the first snowfall of the season in Ohio comes around Nov. 23. The National Weather Service said this year's wait ranks among the 10 latest in recorded weather history.

That brings us to Friday.

"It's like the weather looked at a calendar and noticed that Friday is the first day of winter," said Jamison. "This is a significant storm that is currently in the West that will get here Friday morning and continue through Saturday with at least 5-6 inches. We expect significant winds which will cause drifting."

Accumulation is expected to be the same inside and outside the snowbelt.

The big storms of the last winter season occurred on Feb. 11 and 12 with 4.7 inches and Jan. 13 and 14 with about 5.3 inches.

Today and Thursday are expected to be warm, with a high today in the mid 40s and near 50 on Thursday. But rain will start Thursday and the precipitation is expected to turn to snow Friday morning.

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