Ohio is spending Monday, November 2, under a thick cloud deck, with mild temperatures for early November and no watches, warnings or advisories in effect anywhere in the state. The National Weather Service confirmed no active alerts for Ohio late Monday morning, and the rest of today is a story of clouds, a few light showers in the south and center, and dry conditions for most of the north — all ahead of a sunny, near-record-warm Election Day on Tuesday.
Conditions late this morning showed how uneven the day is from north to south. Cleveland was cloudy at 66 degrees with a south wind near 7 mph, Toledo was cloudy at 58 degrees with south winds gusting near 19 mph, while Columbus and Cincinnati were both cloudy at 54 degrees, with Columbus reporting south winds gusting to about 18 mph. Humidity was highest in the southwest, and the morning’s light rain chances were fading in the north while lingering around midday in the Cincinnati area.
In Northwest Ohio, Toledo stays mostly cloudy through the rest of today, with a high near 67 degrees on south winds of 5 to 9 mph and no rain expected during the daylight hours. Northeast Ohio is the warmest part of the state this afternoon: the Weather Service in Cleveland calls for partly sunny skies in Cleveland with a high near 70 degrees, and Akron is partly sunny with a high near 69 degrees, both on light south winds.
Central and southern Ohio carry the rest of today’s shower chances. Columbus has a 50 percent chance of rain showers, mostly cloudy skies and a high near 67 degrees, with any new rainfall expected to stay under a tenth of an inch. Dayton has about a 30 percent chance of showers with a high near 66 degrees, and Cincinnati has about a 40 percent chance with a high near 65 degrees. Southeast Ohio, including Athens, is mostly cloudy with a high near 67 degrees and only a slight chance of rain this afternoon.
Tonight stays mostly cloudy and mild statewide, with only a slight chance of an evening shower in most areas before 9 to 11 p.m. Lows settle in the mid-50s across central and southwestern Ohio, in the upper 50s around Toledo and Cleveland, and near 50 degrees in the Athens area, the coolest spot in the state. South winds continue overnight, gusting into the low 20s in the northwest, but roads should stay dry except where a passing evening shower briefly wets the pavement.
Tuesday is Election Day, and it remains the bright spot of the week in every region. The Weather Service expects sunny skies in Columbus with a high near 77 degrees, sunny and near 78 degrees in Cincinnati and Dayton, mostly sunny and near 77 degrees in Cleveland and Toledo, and sunny and near 76 degrees in Athens and Akron. No rain is expected during the day, so voters heading to the polls between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. should find dry conditions across Ohio.
The dry break ends Wednesday. Rain is likely to certain statewide — a 90 to 100 percent chance in central and southwestern Ohio, where showers and thunderstorms are possible and rainfall could reach a quarter to three-quarters of an inch, and a 70 to 90 percent chance in the northeast, northwest and southeast, with south winds gusting to 24 to 30 mph. A chance of rain lingers Thursday in northern and eastern Ohio before skies clear and highs ease back toward the 60s to finish the week.
Photo: Erik Drost, CC BY