Ohio heads into a clear, chilly Monday night with no watches, warnings or advisories in effect anywhere in the state, according to the National Weather Service. Early-evening temperatures were in the upper 40s to low 50s — 49 degrees and clear in Cleveland and 53 degrees and clear in Columbus — after a sunny day, and skies stay mostly clear to mostly cloudy overnight as temperatures fall steadily. It is a quiet, dry night for travel statewide, with light southwest winds of about 1 to 10 mph.
Tonight’s lows run from the upper 30s to the mid-40s, according to the National Weather Service — about 44 degrees in Toledo, 43 degrees in Cincinnati, and 42 degrees in Cleveland, Columbus and Dayton. The coldest air settles into southeast Ohio, where Athens drops to about 37 degrees under clear skies and calm to light winds, cold enough for patchy frost in sheltered valleys and low spots. Anyone with sensitive plants still out in the southeast hills should cover them before bed.
In northwest Ohio, Toledo spends tonight mostly cloudy with a low around 44 degrees and southwest winds of 3 to 8 mph, according to the National Weather Service. Northeast Ohio is also mostly cloudy tonight, with Cleveland near 42 degrees and south winds of 5 to 10 mph, while skies are clearer farther inland. Clouds in the north thin out Tuesday morning.
Central and southwest Ohio get the clearest night. Columbus turns mostly clear with a low around 42 degrees, Dayton is mostly clear near 42 degrees, and Cincinnati is clear near 43 degrees, all with light southwest winds, according to the National Weather Service. Southeast Ohio, under those same clear skies, is where radiational cooling does its work — Athens at 37 degrees is the state’s cold spot tonight, even as it prepares for one of Tuesday’s bigger warm-ups.
Tuesday is the warm, sunny payoff. Sunshine covers the whole state and highs climb into the 60s almost everywhere — 62 degrees in Toledo, 65 degrees in Columbus and Athens, 66 degrees in Dayton and 67 degrees in Cincinnati, according to the National Weather Service. Cleveland, at 59 degrees with west winds around 12 mph, is the one spot that just misses the 60s. West winds of about 6 to 8 mph elsewhere keep the day dry and comfortable from morning through evening.
Tuesday night stays mostly clear to mostly cloudy with lows of 39 to 43 degrees, and Veterans Day on Wednesday remains mild for most of Ohio, according to the National Weather Service. Highs reach 61 degrees in Columbus, 63 degrees in Dayton and Athens, and 64 degrees in Cincinnati, while Cleveland holds at 57 degrees and Toledo at 55 degrees under mostly cloudy skies, with a slight chance of an afternoon shower around Toledo. Enjoy it — Wednesday is the last fully mild day of this stretch.
The turn arrives Wednesday night, when rain becomes likely after 7 p.m. across most of Ohio, with chances of 60 to 70 percent, according to the National Weather Service. Rain stays likely Thursday with highs falling to 46 to 53 degrees, and colder air behind it brings a chance of rain mixing with snow Thursday night into Friday, when highs hold only in the low 40s. The weekend then turns partly cloudy and cool, with highs in the mid-40s Saturday recovering toward the upper 40s Sunday. For tonight and Tuesday, no precautions are needed beyond a jacket after dark and frost cover in the southeast valleys — the week’s weather is saved for later.
Photo: Erik Drost, CC BY