Ohio settles into a cloudy night Thursday with no watches, warnings or advisories in effect statewide, according to the National Weather Service. Clouds that built in through the evening will hold over most of the state overnight, keeping temperatures from falling as far as they will on the clearer nights ahead. The one exception to a dry night is the far north, where rain moves in late and sets up a wetter Friday along Lake Erie.
In northwest Ohio, the National Weather Service in Detroit calls for rain likely before 4 a.m. around Toledo, with a 70 percent chance of precipitation and less than a tenth of an inch expected. Temperatures there will bottom out near 37 degrees before rising toward 40 overnight on a west-northwest wind around 8 mph. Across northeast Ohio, the National Weather Service in Cleveland forecasts a cloudy night with a low around 45 and a southwest wind around 7 mph, with rain holding off until Friday.
Central and southern Ohio stay dry overnight. Columbus will be mostly cloudy with a low around 44 and a west wind around 5 mph, the National Weather Service in Wilmington said, and Cincinnati follows the same pattern with a low around 44 and light west winds. In southeast Ohio, Athens will be mostly cloudy with a low around 47, the mildest overnight reading in the state, according to the National Weather Service in Charleston, West Virginia.
Friday splits the state in two. Northeast Ohio turns wet, with rain showers likely through the day around Cleveland, a high near 55, west winds of 6 to 12 mph and a 90 percent chance of precipitation, though new rainfall stays under a tenth of an inch. Northwest Ohio is cooler and unsettled, with a chance of rain, a high near 46 around Toledo and northwest gusts as high as 22 mph. Farther south it is a different day: Columbus has only a slight chance of rain early, then partly sunny skies and a high near 52, Cincinnati reaches the mid-50s under partly sunny skies, and southeast Ohio is partly sunny and warmer.
The bigger change arrives Friday night, when skies clear in the south and temperatures drop. The National Weather Service in Wilmington expects patchy frost after 2 a.m. around Columbus and after 4 a.m. around Cincinnati, with lows near 35 in both areas under northwest winds. Northeast Ohio stays cloudy and wet instead, with rain showers, a low around 38 and west wind gusts as high as 23 mph, while northwest Ohio falls to around 33 with a lingering chance of rain early.
The weekend keeps that split going on Saturday, with rain showers and highs in the low to mid-50s in the northeast and partly sunny, drier weather elsewhere, before a colder Saturday night brings areas of frost to central Ohio and widespread frost to the Cincinnati area, with lows of 31 to 32. Sunday then rebounds statewide, with widespread frost early giving way to sunny or mostly sunny skies and highs in the mid- to upper 50s.
For tonight, drivers in the north should expect wet roads toward morning, especially around Toledo and along the lake, while the rest of the state sees a quiet, cloudy commute. With frost in the forecast for Friday and Saturday nights, this is the evening to cover or bring in tender plants in central and southern Ohio and to be ready for a cold start to the weekend before Sunday’s sunshine.