Ohio heads into Friday night split in two, according to the National Weather Service. Rain is likely tonight in the northeast, while the rest of the state clears out and turns cold, with lows falling to around freezing or below. The weather service had no watches, warnings or advisories in effect for Ohio early Friday evening, and evening readings were clustered near 39 to 41 degrees under cloudy skies, with northwest winds still gusting after a chilly day in the 40s.
In the northeast, the National Weather Service in Cleveland calls for rain likely tonight around Cleveland, with a chance of precipitation near 70 percent, a low around 39, and northwest winds of 9 to 14 mph gusting as high as 24 mph. New rainfall is expected to stay light, at less than a tenth of an inch, but roads along Lake Erie will stay wet and blustery through the night, so drivers on Interstate 90 and other lakeshore routes should allow extra room and watch for standing water in low spots.
Elsewhere, the rain chance fades fast this evening. In central Ohio, Columbus has only a slight chance of rain before 7 p.m., then partly cloudy skies and a low around 31 on northwest winds of 6 to 10 mph, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington. In the northwest, Toledo turns partly cloudy tonight with a low around 30, and in the southwest, Cincinnati and Dayton settle near 30 to 31 under partly to mostly cloudy skies. In the southeast, Athens and the hill country stay mostly cloudy with a low around 28, the coldest reading in the state tonight.
Those below-freezing lows outside the northeast mean a frosty start to Saturday for much of Ohio. Anyone with late-season plants still outside, outdoor plumbing still exposed, or a vehicle parked outside overnight should plan for frost by morning, especially in sheltered and low-lying areas away from Lake Erie, where clouds and wind will keep temperatures several degrees warmer.
Saturday keeps the split going. The northeast stays wet and windy, with rain likely around Cleveland again at about a 70 percent chance, a high near 47, northwest winds around 17 mph gusting as high as 28 mph, and a tenth to a quarter of an inch of rain possible, according to the weather service. The rest of Ohio turns mostly to partly sunny and dry, with highs near 45 in Columbus and Toledo, 46 in Athens, and 48 in Cincinnati and Dayton — a noticeably brighter day for most weekend plans outside the northeast.
Saturday night turns mostly cloudy for much of the state with lows in the 30s, around 36 in Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton and 33 in Toledo, while a chance of rain lingers around Cleveland with a low near 38. Sunday brings a chance of rain before 1 p.m. in the northeast, then mostly cloudy skies and a high near 48 there, while the rest of Ohio stays mostly cloudy to partly sunny and dry, with highs in the upper 40s to near 50, including 47 in Columbus and Toledo and 50 in Cincinnati.
The extended outlook turns quieter and warmer to start the week. The National Weather Service calls for sunny skies Monday across most of Ohio, with highs near 49 around Cleveland, 50 in Toledo, 51 in Columbus, 53 in Athens and 55 in Cincinnati, then sunny and milder still on Tuesday and Wednesday, when highs climb into the 50s statewide and reach the low 60s in the southwest. Morning lows stay chilly, in the upper 20s to mid-30s, so frost remains possible early in the week even as afternoons moderate. No severe weather is expected — the weekend story is the northeast rain and wind, and the cold, frosty nights everywhere else.