Ohio starts Friday with patchy fog in a few spots and a cold, quiet feel, but high pressure quickly takes over and delivers sunshine statewide, according to the National Weather Service. No watches, warnings or advisories were in effect for Ohio early Friday, and forecasters expect a dry day in every region, with highs from the mid-60s in the north to near 70 degrees in the south and only light winds.
In Northwest Ohio, Toledo begins the day with fog and temperatures in the mid-40s, then turns mostly sunny with a high near 65 and light northeast winds. On the western basin of Lake Erie, the weather service calls for mostly sunny skies and waves of 1 foot or less, and inland communities share the same dry pattern.
Northeast Ohio turns sunny after a cool start as well. The Cleveland weather service office expects mostly clear skies and a high near 66 in Cleveland, with highs in the low to mid-60s across the region, including the Canton area, and light and variable winds. Skies stay mostly clear tonight along the lakeshore, while colder inland spots dip into the upper 30s.
Central and Southwest Ohio get the warmest sunshine of the day. Columbus turns sunny with a high near 69, with calm wind becoming east around 5 mph in the afternoon, the weather service says. Cincinnati, Dayton and the Wilmington area also turn sunny, with highs near 69 to 70 degrees and light northeast to east winds.
Southeast Ohio starts the coldest, with fog and temperatures near 39 degrees reported around Athens early Friday and patchy frost before 9 a.m. in sheltered valleys of the southeast and east-central hills. The fog and frost give way to sunshine, with Athens reaching a high near 68 and the rest of the southeast enjoying a dry, mostly sunny afternoon.
Tonight will be mostly clear across Ohio, with lows in the upper 30s in the colder inland areas of the northeast and southeast and the low to mid-40s elsewhere, including about 44 in Columbus. The Wilmington weather service office says patchy frost will be possible tonight in central Ohio, including Licking, Fairfield and Hocking counties, so residents should protect tender outdoor plants. Drivers who run into patchy morning fog should slow down and use headlights. Saturday then stays sunny statewide, with highs near 68 in Columbus, the mid to upper 60s in the north and near 70 in the southwest, after another morning with patchy frost possible in the coldest spots.
The extended outlook keeps Ohio dry through the weekend and into the week ahead. Sunday will be sunny with highs in the upper 60s to near 70, and Monday looks like the warmest day of the stretch, sunny with highs in the upper 60s in the north and the low 70s in central and southern Ohio. Tuesday turns partly to mostly cloudy, with highs in the lower 60s in the north and near 69 in central Ohio, and Wednesday stays partly to mostly cloudy — with no rain in the forecast through midweek.