Ohio starts Sunday, November 1, under a quiet and mild pattern, with no watches, warnings or advisories in effect anywhere in the state. The National Weather Service offices in Cleveland and Wilmington both said in their overnight Hazardous Weather Outlooks that no hazardous weather is expected today or tonight, and spotter activation is not expected. High pressure is drifting off the Mid-Atlantic Coast, leaving Ohio mostly cloudy with light southeasterly winds and temperatures running warmer than a typical start to November.
Early-morning readings set the tone for the day ahead. Cleveland was cloudy at 53 degrees with a southeast wind near 12 mph and gusts around 20 mph near Lake Erie, Columbus was cloudy at 54 degrees, Dayton was mostly cloudy at 56 degrees, and Cincinnati was mostly cloudy in the upper 50s. Skies stay mostly cloudy statewide through the afternoon, and the Weather Service expects afternoon humidity in northern Ohio to fall into the 35 to 45 percent range, keeping the day dry for most communities.
In Northwest Ohio, Toledo stays mostly cloudy and dry, with a high near 68 degrees and no rain expected today, tonight or Monday in the Weather Service fire weather forecast for Lucas County. Northeast Ohio, including Cleveland, Akron and Youngstown, also stays dry, with highs near 70 degrees and breezier conditions near the lake this morning easing through the day. The lakeshore wind is the only travel note in the north, and even that is expected to stay well below advisory levels.
Central Ohio, including Columbus, reaches a high near 72 degrees under mostly cloudy skies, with light southeast winds of about 5 mph. Southwest Ohio is the warmest part of the state, with Dayton near 73 degrees and Cincinnati near 71 degrees, although Cincinnati could see a brief shower early this morning and a better chance of light rain arriving late tonight. Southeast Ohio shares the mostly cloudy, mild pattern, with dry conditions through the daylight hours before clouds thicken overnight ahead of the next system.
Tonight stays cloudy and mild for the first night back on standard time, after clocks fell back overnight. Lows fall to about 51 degrees around Toledo and into the mid-50s in Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati, while readings near Lake Erie stay in the upper 50s for much of the night. A weak mid-level disturbance approaches from the west, and the National Weather Service in Wilmington expects it to bring light and scattered rain to southern and central Ohio late tonight and into early Monday morning, ending as the disturbance moves east.
Monday turns cooler behind that disturbance, with highs of about 60 to 64 degrees in Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland and near 67 degrees in Toledo, under continued cloudy skies. Morning showers in the south give way to a drier afternoon and evening, and high pressure and ridging build back in Monday night and Tuesday. Drivers should note the earlier darkness that comes with standard time: sunset tonight ranges from about 5:21 p.m. in Cleveland to 5:36 p.m. in Cincinnati.
Looking ahead, the Weather Service expects a low pressure system to affect Ohio by the middle of the week, with a stronger system bringing more widespread rain around Wednesday, although forecasters in Wilmington stress that confidence in the details for Tuesday night onward is low. Until then, Ohio gets a calm start to the week: a mild, dry Sunday for most of the state, light rain late tonight in the south, and no severe, winter or flooding concerns anywhere in the outlook period.
Photo: Erik Drost, CC BY