Communities across Ohio are preparing for a storm that’s expected to coat the entire state with at least a few inches of snow by the weekend.

National Weather Service winter weather advisories have been posted for all of Ohio because of snow expected to reach the state by this afternoon. Forecasters say snowfall totals could range from more than a foot in parts of northeast Ohio near Lake Erie to at least 3 or 4 inches in most other parts of Ohio.

A few school districts, including Cincinnati’s, closed schools today, while others announced they would or could dismiss students early because of the storm. Locally, the Knox County Career Center planned an early dismissal for 1:04 p.m.

Columbus, Dayton and other cities have had trucks out since Wednesday treating streets with melting agents.

Dave Carpenter of the Mount Vernon Street Department said he didn’t expect any significant snow accumulation until about noon today, but crews are ready for what does come.

“We will be plowing the main streets and hills,” he said. “That’s probably all we will be doing for the first few hours.”

Carpenter said the city probably would not get to the side streets until tonight, and, most likely, it will be tomorrow.

“We will be putting down some material (sand and salt), but not right away,” he added. “It doesn’t make sense to put it down right away when you might be plowing several times.”

County officials are watching the situation and are ready to act according to weather conditions.

“They’re working on the trucks now, getting everything ready,” Chris Horton, county garage office superintendent, said at 8:30 this morning. “We’ll wait for it to come and treat it appropriately. We have 13 trucks ready to go and we’ll just have to wait and see.

“We have crews ready to work all weekend if they need to,” he added.