Ohio is in the middle of an unseasonably warm late-October day late Thursday morning, and the rest of today only gets warmer. The National Weather Service office in Cleveland reported mostly clear to partly cloudy skies statewide in its 8 a.m. regional roundup, with mid-morning readings of 54 degrees in Defiance, 51 in Toledo and Findlay, 54 at Cleveland Hopkins Airport and 57 along the Cleveland lakefront, 49 in Columbus, 52 in Dayton and 50 in Cincinnati. No watches, warnings or advisories were in effect for Ohio locations checked late this morning, and rain chances stay at or near zero through the afternoon for most of the state.
The main story for the rest of today is the climb. Columbus was already at 62 degrees late this morning under fair skies, according to current conditions, and the forecast for central Ohio calls for sunny skies and a high of 79 degrees this afternoon, with southwest winds around 11 mph. That is well above normal for Oct. 29, and the same southerly flow is pushing temperatures into the middle and upper 70s statewide, making this afternoon feel more like early fall than the day before Halloween weekend begins in earnest.
In northwest Ohio, the National Weather Service forecasts a sunny day with a high near 77, southwest winds of 10 to 15 mph and gusts as high as 25 mph. Toledo, Findlay, Lima and Defiance all started the day in the low 50s under a mix of clear and partly cloudy skies, and the northwest warms steadily through the afternoon with no rain expected during daylight hours. The gusty southwest wind is the one travel and outdoor note in the region — secure loose Halloween decorations and other light outdoor items before the strongest gusts arrive this afternoon.
Northeast Ohio shares the warm-up, with clear skies reported early at Akron-Canton, Ashtabula and the Cleveland lakefront and partly cloudy skies at Youngstown and Mansfield. Temperatures that started in the upper 40s and low 50s — including 44 degrees at Wooster, the coolest reading in the northeast roundup — rise into the middle and upper 70s this afternoon under sunshine. Southwest Ohio is just as warm after a cool start: Hamilton reported fog and 42 degrees early this morning, while Dayton and Cincinnati were in the low 50s, and all three areas turn sunny with highs in the middle to upper 70s and southwest winds picking up to around 10 to 12 mph.
Southeast and central Ohio follow the same script for the rest of today. Columbus moves from its 49-degree start to that sunny 79-degree afternoon high, and river-valley communities in the southeast that saw patchy early fog improve to sunshine and highs in the 70s from Athens and Marietta toward Portsmouth. No rain is expected in either region today, and winds stay light enough in the southeast that the main impact is simply a warm, dry afternoon for travel, harvest work and outdoor plans.
Tonight brings the change, but a gentle one. A weak cold front moves through, and the National Weather Service gives northwest Ohio a 30 percent chance of showers this evening, mainly before 9 p.m., with partly cloudy skies and a low around 43 degrees behind northwest winds of 5 to 10 mph. Farther south and east, tonight stays mostly clear to partly cloudy, with lows around 49 degrees in Columbus and in the upper 40s in the Cincinnati and Dayton areas, and no significant rain expected.
Friday turns cooler behind the front but stays dry and sunny, with a high near 69 degrees in Columbus, near 64 in northwest Ohio and mostly sunny skies in the southwest, before Friday night lows fall into the middle and upper 40s. Halloween on Saturday looks dry statewide, with mostly cloudy skies, highs in the middle 60s and lows in the upper 40s to around 51 — comfortable conditions for trick-or-treating. Sunday stays mostly cloudy with highs near 68 to 70 as daylight saving time ends and clocks fall back an hour at 2 a.m., then shower chances build early next week, reaching 50 percent by Tuesday in northwest Ohio, according to the National Weather Service. Until then, Ohio’s dry, warm stretch holds through the Halloween weekend.
Photo: Rona Proudfoot, CC BY-SA