Special Weather Statement issued December 4 at 10:28PM EST by NWS Wilmington OH (details ...)
At 1025 PM EST, the cold front was located along a line extending from Cridersville to 8 miles southwest of Muncie, moving east at 60 mph.
HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 50 mph.
SOURCE...Surface observations.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around unsecured objects.
Locations impacted include... Richmond, Troy, Sidney, Piqua, Bellefontaine, Greenville, Urbana, Celina, Wapakoneta, Tipp City, Eaton, St. Marys, Kenton, Ada, West Milton, Coldwater, Centerville, Cambridge City, Fort Shawnee, and New Bremen.
This includes the following Interstates... I-70 in Indiana between mile markers 134 and 156. I-70 in Ohio between mile markers 0 and 17. I-75 in Ohio between mile markers 66 and 119.
To report hazardous weather conditions, go to our website at weather.gov/iln and submit your report via social media, when you can do so safely.
Special Weather Statement issued December 4 at 3:18PM EST by NWS Wilmington OH (details ...)
A cold front moves through tonight bringing the potential for snow showers. While accumulations will generally be less than an inch, quick bursts of snow will lead to reductions in visibility. In addition, rapidly falling temperatures will lead to the potential for slick spots on surfaces. Wind gusts from 30 to 40 mph are expected tonight, with localized gusts to 50 mph possible. These winds may blow around loose or light weight objects such as decorations, in particular inflatable decorations. Cold conditions are expected Thursday morning with wind chill values between -5 and 5 degrees.
13° 13° likely occasional Thu 27° Thu 27° slight chance 17° 17° slight chance Fri 29° Fri 29°
Friday, November 29th

Notre Dame Cathedral unveils its new interior 5 years after devastating fire

By THOMAS ADAMSON and JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press

The nave of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral is seen while French President Emmanuel Macron visits the restored interiors of the cathedral, Friday Nov. 29, 2024, in Paris. (Stephane de Sakutin, Pool via AP)

PARIS (AP) - After more than five years of frenetic, but sometimes interrupted, reconstruction work, Notre Dame Cathedral showed itself anew to the world Friday, with rebuilt soaring ceilings and creamy good-as-new stonework erasing somber memories of its devastating fire in 2019.

Images broadcast live of a site visit by French President Emmanuel Macron showed the inside of the iconic cathedral as worshippers might have experienced it in previous centuries, its wide, open spaces filled with bright light on a crisp and sunny winter's day that lit up the vibrant colors of the stained glass windows.

Outside, the monument is still a construction site, with scaffolding and cranes. But the renovated interior - shown in its full glory Friday for the first time before the public is allowed back in on Dec. 8 - proved to be breathtaking.

The altar designed by French artist and designer Guillaume Bardet is seen in the heart of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral while French President Emmanuel Macron visits the restored interiors of the monument, Friday Nov. 29, 2024, in Paris. (Stephane de Sakutin, Pool via AP)

Stonemasons fixed the ripped-open ceilings

Gone are the gaping holes that the blaze tore into the vaulted ceilings, leaving charred piles of debris. New stonework has been carefully pieced together to repair and fill the wounds that had left the cathedral's insides exposed to the elements. Delicate golden angels look on from the centerpiece of one of the rebuilt ceilings, seeming to fly again above the transept.

The cathedral's bright, cream-colored limestone walls look brand new, cleaned not only of dust from the fire but also of grime that had accumulated for centuries.

The cathedral attracted millions of worshippers and visitors annually before the April 15, 2019, fire forced its closure and turned the monument in the heart of Paris into a no-go zone except to artisans, architects and others mobilized for the reconstruction.

Macron entered via the cathedral's giant and intricately carved front doors and stared up at the ceilings in wonder. He was accompanied by his wife, Brigitte, the archbishop of Paris and others.

Techniques new and old deployed

People stroll in Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral while French President Emmanuel Macron visits the restored interiors the monument, Friday, Nov.29, 2024 in Paris. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)

Powerful vacuum cleaners were used to first remove toxic dust released when the fire melted the cathedral's lead roofs.

Fine layers of latex were then sprayed onto the surfaces and removed a few days later, taking dirt away with them from the stones' pores, nooks and crevices. In all, 42,000 square meters of stonework were cleaned and decontaminated - an area equivalent to roughly six soccer pitches.

"It feels like it was built yesterday, like it's just been born, even though Notre Dame is very old," said stonemason Adrien Willeme, who worked on the reconstruction. "Because it's been so carefully restored and cleaned, it looks really extraordinary."

Cleaning gels were also used on some walls that had been painted, removing many years of accumulated dirt and revealing their bright colors once again.

Carpenters worked by hand like their medieval counterparts as they hewed giant oak beams to rebuild the roof and spire that collapsed like a flaming spear into the inferno. The beams show the marks of the carpenters' handiwork, with dents made on the woodwork by their hand axes.

Some 2,000 oak trees were felled to rebuild roof frameworks so dense and intricate that they are nicknamed "the forest."

French President Emmanuel Macron, third right, and his wife Brigitte Macron visit the restored interiors of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, Friday, Nov.29, 2024 in Paris. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)

It's a sneak peek ahead of the reopening

Macron's visit kicked off a series of events ushering in the reopening of the 12th-century Gothic masterpiece. At the end of his tour, the president addressed hundreds of workers gathered inside the cathedral and thanked them for their labors on what he called the "building site of the century."

"The shock of the reopening will, I want to believe, be as powerful as the one of the fire. But it will be a shock of hope," he said. "The inferno of Notre Dame was a wound for the nation. And you were its remedy."

Macron will return on Dec. 7 to deliver another address and will attend the consecration of the new altar during a solemn Mass the following day.

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Associated Press video journalist Marine Lesprit contributed to this report.

French President Emmanuel Macron visits the restored interiors Notre-Dame cathedral, Friday, Nov.29, 2024 in Paris. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)

The facade of Notre-Dame Cathedral is seen in Paris, Friday Nov., 29 2024 ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron's final visit to the construction site to see the restored interiors before the iconic monument's reopening for worship on Dec. 8. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)

A combo of images showing the altar inside Notre Dame cathedral in Paris after the fire on April 16, 2019, top, and showing after the renovation and taken on Friday Nov. 29, 2024. (Christophe Petit Tesson and Stephane de Sakutin, Pool via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron gestures as he visits the restored interiors of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, Friday, Nov.29, 2024 in Paris. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)

Part of the nave and the organ of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral are seen while French President Emmanuel Macron visits the restored interiors of the cathedral, Friday Nov. 29, 2024, in Paris. (Stephane de Sakutin, Pool via AP)

The vaulted ceiling of the Notre-Dame cathedral is seen while French President Emmanuel Macron visits the restored interiors of the monument, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024 in Paris. (Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool via AP)

The vaulted ceiling of the Notre-Dame cathedral is seen while French President Emmanuel Macron visits the restored interiors of the monument, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024 in Paris. (Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool via AP)

The altar designed by French artist and designer Guillaume Bardet is seen in the heart of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral while French President Emmanuel Macron visits the restored interiors of the monument, Friday Nov. 29, 2024, in Paris. (Stephane de Sakutin, Pool via AP)

Windows in the heart of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral are seen while French President Emmanuel Macron visits the restored interiors of the monument, Friday Nov. 29, 2024, in Paris. (Stephane de Sakutin, Pool via AP)

The facade of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral in Paris, is seen Friday Nov. 29, 2024, ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron's final visit to the construction site to see the restored interiors. (Stephane de Sakutin, Pool via AP)

FILE - A hole is seen in the dome inside Notre Dame cathedral after the fire in Paris, Tuesday, April 16, 2019. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP, File)

The choir stalls of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral are seen while French President Emmanuel Macron visits the restored interiors of the monument, Friday Nov. 29, 2024, in Paris. (Stephane de Sakutin, Pool via AP)

Part of the facade of Notre-Dame Cathedral is seen in Paris, Friday Nov., 29 2024 ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron's final visit to the construction site to see the restored interiors before the iconic monument's reopening for worship on Dec. 8. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)

The South Rose stainglass window of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral is seen while French President Emmanuel Macron visits the restored interiors of the cathedral, Friday Nov. 29, 2024, in Paris. (Stephane de Sakutin, Pool via AP)

People stand inside Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, Friday Nov. 29 2024 before French President Emmanuel Macron's final visit to the construction site to see the restored interiors before the iconic monument's reopening for worship on Dec. 8. (Sarah Meyssonnier, Pool via AP)

A view of the Notre-Dame cathedral while French President Emmanuel Macron visits the restored interiors monument, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024 in Paris. (Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool via AP)

A view of the Notre-Dame cathedral as French President Emmanuel Macron visits the restored interiors of the monument, Friday, Nov.29, 2024 in Paris. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron, center, and his wife Brigitte Macron visit the restored interiors of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, Friday, Nov.29, 2024 in Paris. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)

The nave, the western Rose stainless window and the organ of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral are seen while French President Emmanuel Macron visits the restored interiors of the monument, Friday Nov. 29, 2024, in Paris. (Stephane de Sakutin, Pool via AP)

The South Rose stainglass window of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral is seen while French President Emmanuel Macron visits the restored interiors of the cathedral, Friday Nov. 29, 2024, in Paris. (Stephane de Sakutin, Pool via AP)

People stroll in Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral while French President Emmanuel Macron visits the restored interiors the monument, Friday, Nov.29, 2024 in Paris. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron deliver a speech after visiting the restored interiors of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024 in Paris. (Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool via AP)

The nave of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral is seen while French President Emmanuel Macron visited the restored interiors of the monument, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024 in Paris. (Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool via AP)

The nave of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral is seen while French President Emmanuel Macron visits the restored interiors of the cathedral, Friday Nov. 29, 2024, in Paris. (Stephane de Sakutin, Pool via AP)

The nave, the western Rose window and the organ of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral are seen while French President Emmanuel Macron visits the restored interiors of the monument, Friday Nov. 29, 2024, in Paris. (Stephane de Sakutin, Pool via AP)

A man takes a picture of Notre Dame Cathedral as French President Emmanuel Macron visits the renovated cathedral, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

The western Rose window and the organ of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral are seen while French President Emmanuel Macron visits the restored interiors of the monument, Friday Nov. 29, 2024, in Paris. (Stephane de Sakutin, Pool via AP)

People stand outside Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, Friday Nov. 29 2024 before French President Emmanuel Macron's final visit to the construction site to see the restored interiors before the iconic monument's reopening for worship on Dec. 8. (Sarah Meyssonnier, Pool via AP)

The tabernacle of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral is seen while French President Emmanuel Macron visits the restored interiors of the monument, Friday Nov. 29, 2024, in Paris. (Stephane de Sakutin, Pool via AP)

People gather as French President Emmanuel Macron visits the renovated Notre Dame Cathedral Friday, Nov. 29, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)