Ohio heads into a cold November night Friday, with clouds over most of the state at 6 p.m., light rain falling in Cleveland, and temperatures sliding toward overnight lows in the 30s nearly everywhere. Columbus was cloudy at 50 degrees early in the evening, Toledo was cloudy at 46, and Cincinnati and Dayton were both at 48, according to the National Weather Service. Tonight stays mostly cloudy in the north and central state and turns partly cloudy in the south, setting up a frosty start to Saturday in southern Ohio.
The night’s main headline is in the south, where a Frost Advisory from the National Weather Service in Wilmington takes effect at midnight tonight through 9 a.m. Saturday for Cincinnati and much of southwest and south-central Ohio, including Hamilton, Clermont, Brown, Highland, Adams, Pike, Scioto and Ross counties. Temperatures there are expected to fall to 32 to 35 degrees, and the weather service warned that sensitive outdoor plants could be damaged or killed if left uncovered. A second Frost Advisory from the National Weather Service in Charleston, West Virginia, covers Ohio’s southern tip, including Lawrence County, over the same hours. Gardeners in the south should cover tender plants or bring them inside before bed.
Northeast Ohio keeps the state’s wettest weather tonight and into Saturday. Cleveland has a 50 percent chance of rain tonight with a low around 38 degrees, west winds of 12 to 16 mph gusting to 26 mph, and a tenth to a quarter of an inch of rain possible, the National Weather Service in Cleveland said. Akron has a 30 percent chance of rain with a low around 34, and Youngstown has a 40 percent chance with a low around 33. The showers linger Saturday: rain is likely in Youngstown with a 60 percent chance and a high near 51, Cleveland keeps a 40 percent chance near 53, and Akron keeps a chance of rain with a high near 50.
Northwest and central Ohio stay dry but chilly tonight. Toledo turns mostly cloudy with a low around 38 degrees and northwest winds around 9 mph gusting to 23 mph, then turns partly sunny Saturday with a high near 52. Columbus stays mostly cloudy tonight with a low around 38 and west winds of 5 to 9 mph, and Saturday stays mostly cloudy with a high near 53, according to the National Weather Service.
In the southwest and southeast, skies clear enough tonight for the cold to settle in. Cincinnati turns partly cloudy with a low around 36 degrees, Dayton stays mostly cloudy with a low around 37, and Athens turns partly cloudy with a low around 33. Saturday brings patchy morning frost in the southwest, then partly sunny skies in Cincinnati near 55, a mostly cloudy day in Dayton near 54, and a partly sunny day in Athens near 53.
Saturday night could be colder than tonight across the south and southeast, with lows near 30 in Athens, near 32 in Dayton, near 33 in Cincinnati with areas of frost, and near 34 in Columbus with patchy frost late. Sunday then starts the rebound: sunshine returns statewide after morning frost in many southern areas, highs reach the upper 50s, and southwest winds gust as high as 24 to 32 mph in places. Monday stays sunny to mostly sunny, with highs from the mid-50s in Cleveland to the low 60s in Cincinnati and Dayton.
For tonight, anyone heading to high school playoff football should dress for temperatures falling through the 40s into the 30s, and drivers in northeast Ohio should expect wet roads at times from the lake rain. The plant warning carries the one deadline that matters in the south: cover or move sensitive plants this evening, because the frost advisory window opens at midnight and the coldest hours come just before sunrise Saturday.
Photo: W.carter, CC BY