Ohio closes its mild first day of November under cloudy skies tonight, and the light rain that reaches the southwest this evening spreads slowly east overnight. The National Weather Service has no watches, warnings or advisories in effect anywhere in the state. Rain is likely in Cincinnati after 7 p.m., with a 60 percent chance and amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible, while the rest of Ohio stays dry most of the evening.
Overnight lows stay mild, falling to about 50 degrees in Youngstown, 52 in Athens, 54 in Cincinnati, 55 in Toledo, Columbus and Dayton, and 56 in Cleveland. Toledo has only a slight chance of rain between 10 p.m. and midnight, at 20 percent. Cleveland has a slight chance between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m., also 20 percent, and Youngstown stays mostly cloudy and dry.
Central and Southwest Ohio see the rain after the southwest corner. Dayton has a 40 percent chance after 10 p.m., and Columbus has a 30 percent chance after 11 p.m., both with less than a tenth of an inch possible. Athens, in Southeast Ohio, has only a slight chance after midnight, at 20 percent.
Monday stays cloudy statewide and turns a few degrees cooler, but it does not wash out. Highs reach about 66 degrees in Toledo, Columbus and Cincinnati, 67 in Dayton and Athens, and 68 in Cleveland and Youngstown. The best rain chances are in southern and central Ohio in the morning — 50 percent in Columbus before 3 p.m., 50 percent in Dayton, 50 percent in Cincinnati before 1 p.m., where a tenth to a quarter of an inch is possible, and 40 percent in Athens before 1 p.m. Northern Ohio’s chances are lower, about 20 percent in Toledo and Cleveland.
Monday night brings another round of light rain chances to northern Ohio before midnight — about 30 percent in Toledo, Cleveland and Youngstown, with less than a tenth of an inch possible — while central and southern Ohio turn mostly cloudy and drier, with lows in the low to mid-50s in the south and upper 50s near Lake Erie.
Election Day on Tuesday is the bright spot of the week. The Weather Service calls for mostly sunny skies in Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati and Youngstown, partly sunny skies in Toledo and Cleveland, and sunny skies in Athens, with highs rebounding to about 74 degrees in Youngstown, 76 in Toledo, Cleveland and Athens, 77 in Columbus and 78 in Dayton and Cincinnati. No rain is expected during the day anywhere in Ohio.
There are no travel hazards tonight beyond wet pavement where the light rain falls, first in the southwest this evening and then, after midnight, in parts of central Ohio. Tuesday’s dry, warm break does not last: a stronger system brings widespread rain on Wednesday, with chances of 80 to 90 percent in Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati and rain likely across northern and southeastern Ohio as well.
Photo: Tim Kiser, CC BY-SA