Sunday night is underway across Ohio, and the state is cooling fast under two very different skies. In central and southern Ohio, clear skies and fading winds are setting up a frosty night, with readings already down to about 52 degrees in Columbus and 48 in Cincinnati by late evening, according to the National Weather Service. Frost Advisories take effect overnight for much of the state’s southern half, while the north stays cloudier, milder and windy along Lake Erie.
The north is the windy half tonight. Cleveland stays mostly cloudy with a low around 44 degrees and west winds around 18 mph gusting as high as 32 mph, the National Weather Service in Cleveland said. Youngstown is mostly cloudy near 40 with gusts to 22 mph, and Toledo turns partly cloudy near 39 with gusts to 22 mph, while Findlay drops to about 38. On Lake Erie, a Small Craft Advisory reissued Sunday evening runs into Monday — until 3 p.m. in some waters — so boaters face rough water to start the week.
The frost is the real overnight story in the center and southwest. The National Weather Service in Wilmington has a Frost Advisory in effect from 1 a.m. to 9 a.m. Monday for central, south-central and southwest Ohio — including Franklin, Pickaway, Ross, Hamilton, Clermont, Brown, Highland, Adams, Pike and Scioto counties — where temperatures as low as 35 degrees will form frost that could harm sensitive vegetation. Columbus turns mostly clear with a low around 40, Cincinnati falls to near 38 with patchy frost after 5 a.m., and Dayton also reaches about 38 with patchy frost late.
Southeast Ohio shares the cold, clear night. Athens turns clear with a low near 38 degrees, and a separate Frost Advisory from the National Weather Service in Charleston covers Lawrence County from midnight to 10 a.m. Monday, with lows as low as 33 degrees possible there. If you still have tender plants outside anywhere in the advisory area, cover them or bring them in tonight before you go to bed — uncovered plants may be killed, the Weather Service advises.
Monday keeps the split going. The south and center shake off patchy frost before 7 a.m. and turn sunny, with highs near 59 in Columbus, 62 in Cincinnati and Dayton, and 58 in Athens and Findlay, while Toledo turns mostly sunny near 56. The northeast stays mostly cloudy and cooler, with Cleveland and Youngstown both near 55 and Cleveland still gusting to 28 mph. Monday night lows run from near 34 in Athens to the low 40s along the lake.
Tuesday is the warmest day of this stretch and the pick of the week: sunny in every region, with highs near 60 in Cleveland, 62 in Toledo, 64 in Columbus and Athens, 66 in Dayton and 67 in Cincinnati, according to the National Weather Service. Veterans Day on Wednesday stays dry and partly sunny, with highs from 57 in Toledo and 58 in Cleveland to 62 in Columbus and 65 in Cincinnati, though a slight chance of rain reaches the southwest late in the day.
The dry run ends Wednesday night, when light rain becomes likely statewide — chances run from about 67 to 74 percent — and Thursday stays rainy and cooler, with highs near 49 in Cleveland, 50 in Columbus and 53 in Cincinnati. Friday turns colder still, with highs only in the low to mid-40s. Tonight’s order of business is simple: cover the plants in the south, secure anything loose in the north, and enjoy two more dry days before the rain.
Photo: W.carter, CC BY-SA