Ohio settles into a mostly cloudy, dry night Tuesday, with patchy fog developing late in several regions and no watches, warnings or advisories in effect anywhere in the state, according to the National Weather Service. Its statewide alert check late Tuesday evening showed a clean board for Ohio. At 9 p.m., the Weather Service’s hourly forecasts had Columbus at 59 degrees and partly cloudy, Cleveland at 57 and mostly cloudy, and Cincinnati at 62 and mostly cloudy, with temperatures easing down toward overnight lows in the upper 40s to low 50s and rain chances at or near zero statewide.
In northwest Ohio, skies stay mostly cloudy tonight with a low near 50 in Toledo and 51 in Lima, according to the National Weather Service, and patchy fog develops around Toledo after 3 a.m. In northeast Ohio, the night is also mostly cloudy and dry, with lows near 51 in Cleveland, 50 in Mansfield, 49 in Akron-Canton, where patchy fog is expected after 1 a.m., and 48 in Youngstown, where patchy fog is expected after midnight. Winds stay light, generally east to southeast at 5 mph or less in most places.
In central Ohio, Columbus stays mostly cloudy tonight with a low near 50 and a light east wind around 3 mph, according to the National Weather Service. Southwest Ohio follows the same pattern, with lows near 50 in both Dayton and Cincinnati, but Cincinnati also picks up patchy fog after 2 a.m. — drivers in the Ohio River valley and other low-lying areas should be ready for pockets of reduced visibility in the last hours of the night.
In southeast Ohio, clouds hold over the hills tonight with lows near 48 in Athens, 50 in Marietta and 49 in Portsmouth, where patchy fog is also expected after 2 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. No rain is expected in any of the five regions overnight, so roads stay dry — the only travel concern is that late-night and early-morning fog, which argues for slowing down, using low-beam headlights and allowing extra following distance where visibility drops.
Wednesday, the early fog burns off and gives way to a mostly sunny, warmer day statewide, according to the National Weather Service. Patchy fog lingers before 9 a.m. around Cincinnati, Toledo and Portsmouth and before 8 a.m. around Akron, then highs reach 73 in Toledo, 72 in Cleveland and Youngstown, 74 in Akron-Canton and Mansfield, 75 in Columbus and Lima, 76 in Dayton and 77 in both Cincinnati and Portsmouth, with southeast Ohio in the low to mid-70s in Athens and Marietta. Wednesday night then turns mostly clear, with lows from the upper 40s to low 50s.
Thursday looks like the warmest day of the stretch, with sunshine statewide and highs near 77 in Columbus, 78 in Dayton, Cincinnati and Portsmouth and 76 in Cleveland, Toledo and Akron-Canton, according to the National Weather Service. Southwest winds gust as high as 25 mph in the north. Friday then splits the state — sunny and cooler in the north, near 64 in Cleveland and 66 in Toledo behind a front, while central and southern Ohio stay sunny and warm, near 73 in Columbus, 74 in Dayton and 76 in Cincinnati.
Halloween on Saturday stays mostly cloudy and dry for trick-or-treat plans, with highs near 69 in Columbus, 70 in Dayton, 71 in Cincinnati and Marietta, the mid-60s in Cleveland, Akron-Canton, Youngstown and Mansfield, 63 in Toledo and the low to mid-70s in the southeast, according to the National Weather Service. The pattern finally breaks on Sunday, Nov. 1 — the morning Ohio turns its clocks back as daylight saving time ends — when rain becomes likely around Cincinnati with a 60 percent chance and a high near 67, a 40 percent chance of rain develops in Columbus with a high near 67, and showers reach northeast Ohio by Sunday night. Until Sunday, though, Ohio’s dry, above-normal fall run holds — just watch for fog if you are out late tonight or early Wednesday.
Photo: Cuyahoga jco, CC BY