The freeze that started Ohio’s Sunday is over, and sunshine has taken its place in every corner of the state. The Freeze Warning that covered central, south-central and southwest Ohio expired at 10 a.m., according to the National Weather Service, and by mid-morning Columbus was already sunny near 50 degrees and climbing toward a high near 57. Skies stay sunny statewide through the rest of today with no rain expected anywhere, but a gusty southwest wind is the trade-off, strongest across the northern counties.
That wind is the main weather to plan around this afternoon. Cleveland stays sunny with a high near 57, but southwest winds of 14 to 18 mph will gust as high as 30 mph, the National Weather Service said. Toledo is much the same — sunny and 56 degrees with gusts to 30 mph. On Lake Erie, west winds of 15 to 20 knots gusting to 26 knots will keep waves at 1 to 2 feet, so boaters get a workable but breezy afternoon.
Northwest Ohio away from the lake — Bowling Green and Findlay — stays sunny with highs in the mid to upper 50s, and Akron-Canton and Youngstown both reach the mid-50s under sun. The northeast is the one region where the pattern breaks tonight: Cleveland turns mostly cloudy with a low near 44 and gusts still reaching 30 mph, and Monday stays mostly cloudy there near 55 while the rest of Ohio turns sunny again.
Central Ohio has the calmest version of the day. Columbus stays sunny near 57 with southwest winds gusting to 25 mph, then turns mostly clear tonight with a low around 40, according to the National Weather Service. Cincinnati tops out near 59 under sunny skies in the southwest, and Athens is the warm spot in the state today at near 61 degrees — a sharp swing for the southern counties that started the day under the freeze.
Tonight clears out almost everywhere, and that clear, calm setup is why frost is back in the forecast. Cincinnati and Athens both fall to near 38 with patchy frost late. The National Weather Service in Wilmington has issued a Frost Advisory from 1 a.m. to 9 a.m. Monday for central, south-central and southwest Ohio — including Franklin, Pickaway, Ross, Hamilton, Clermont, Brown, Highland, Adams, Pike and Scioto counties — where temperatures as low as 35 degrees will form frost that could harm sensitive vegetation. Protect tender plants tonight, the Weather Service advises, because uncovered plants may be killed.
Monday starts with patchy frost in the south and center of the state, then turns sunny almost everywhere, with highs from 55 in Toledo to 62 in Athens. Tuesday is the warmest day of this stretch and stays sunny statewide: 60 in Cleveland, 63 in Columbus, 66 in Cincinnati and 68 in Athens. Veterans Day on Wednesday stays mostly to partly sunny, with highs from the mid-50s along Lake Erie to the upper 60s in the southeast.
The dry run ends Wednesday night, when a chance of rain — 30 to 50 percent, depending on the region — moves in after 7 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. Until then, Ohio gets three more dry, sunny days: enjoy this afternoon’s sunshine, secure anything the northern gusts could tip or carry, and cover tender plants tonight before the Monday morning frost.