by Dave DeNatale, Ryan Haidet, WKYC Weather Team

Expect extreme cold temperatures to give way to snow on Friday and early Saturday.

The National Weather Service in Cleveland upgraded its forecast for the next two days, changing what was a Winter Storm Watch to a Winter Storm Warning.

The warning is in effect from 11 p.m. Thursday until 4 a.m. Saturday.

“Widespread snow late Thursday night and Friday morning will transition to lake effect snow Friday afternoon,” said the National Weather Service in the alert issued Thursday afternoon.

Heavy snow is expected across Northeast Ohio which will make travel hazardous.

In a news release, the Ohio Department of Transportation said that crews will work around the clock to clear roads. ODOT will have approximately 300 snowplow drivers plowing and salting state and U.S. routes outside municipalities and all interstates – except the Ohio Turnpike – in 17 counties across Northeast Ohio.

“Where heavy snow persists, don’t expect perfect road conditions. Our crews will be plowing and treating roads and doing their best to keep the roads safe and passable,” ODOT said in the release.

The WKYC weather team said the snow will move in from west-to-east. They expect snow to stack up sooner west of I-77. There will be a few inches of fresh snow for the morning commute Friday with snow expected to continue throughout the rush and into the late morning hours. As the snow continues across the area, the weather team said they will be watching a band of lake effect snow develop and target areas WEST of Cleveland. The team said to expect to see heavier snow within this band. The band of snow will eventually shift east throughout the morning into the afternoon.

This winter storm is expected to close some area schools — see a complete list of closings here.