Ohio is spending Monday afternoon under full sunshine, and the dry, quiet pattern holds through tonight, according to the National Weather Service. Temperatures early this afternoon range from the low to mid-50s along Lake Erie to the low 60s in central and southwest Ohio, with Columbus sitting at 62 degrees and sunny under west winds around 8 mph. No watches, warnings or advisories are in effect for any Ohio land area, and the only headline left in the state is a Small Craft Advisory on the eastern basin of Lake Erie that expires at 3 p.m.
The rest of the afternoon and the evening commute stay dry everywhere in Ohio. West to northwest winds of about 5 to 10 mph, a little brisker along the lake early this afternoon, ease toward evening, and skies turn mostly clear after sunset, which comes at about 5:20 p.m. in Columbus. The National Weather Service in Cleveland notes that a few lake-effect clouds will linger into far northeast Ohio for much of the day before clearing this evening, while the rest of the state keeps uninterrupted sun.
In northwest Ohio, Toledo spends the afternoon sunny with highs in the mid-50s, and communities from Findlay to Defiance run in the upper 50s. Northeast Ohio is the coolest part of the state, with Cleveland topping out in the mid-50s and Youngstown in the mid-50s, and the lakeshore east of Cleveland holding on to clouds the longest before the evening clear-out.
Central Ohio is enjoying one of the mildest afternoons in the state, with Columbus in the low 60s under sunny skies. Southwest Ohio shares that warmth, with Dayton and Cincinnati in the low 60s in sunshine, and southeast Ohio runs close behind, with Athens at about 60 degrees under sunny skies — a long climb from the frosty upper 30s that started the day there.
Tonight turns clear and chilly statewide, with lows in the upper 30s to mid-40s — about 42 degrees in Columbus, Dayton and Cleveland, 43 degrees in Cincinnati and 44 degrees in Toledo, according to the National Weather Service. The coldest readings will be in sheltered valleys, where Youngstown dips to about 36 degrees and Athens to about 37 degrees, and patchy frost is possible. Winds shift to the southwest and stay light overnight on land, though they pick up over Lake Erie, where another round of small craft conditions is expected Tuesday.
Tuesday is still the warm day of the week. A dry cold front crosses Ohio with little change in the air mass, according to the National Weather Service in Cleveland, and sunshine pushes highs into the lower 60s to the upper 60s in the south, with portions of northern Ohio reaching the 60s as well, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington. Veterans Day on Wednesday brings increasing clouds ahead of the next system, but highs still reach 60 to 65 degrees in the south and the upper 50s to low 60s farther north before rain develops late Wednesday night.
That late-week system is the one change in an otherwise calm week. Rain becomes likely across Ohio on Thursday behind a cold front, and much colder air follows for Friday, when highs hold only in the 40s and lingering precipitation could mix in a few wet snowflakes — potentially the first of the season — though the National Weather Service in Cleveland says impactful accumulations are rather unlikely. The weekend stays cool, with highs in the 40s Saturday and moderation toward 50 degrees Sunday. For tonight, anyone in the northeast valleys should cover sensitive plants against patchy frost; for everyone else, the evening is clear, dry and calm.
Photo: Wikiphotoman777, CC BY-SA 4.0