Weak high pressure will build overhead today, providing mainly dry conditions, until the next cold front crosses on Thursday.
Today’s weather will be much quieter. High pressure will keep the east-central Ohio region mostly dry today, despite the thick stratus deck overhead this morning. The cloud cover should thin as we get toward the afternoon west to east and we will likely get into sunnier conditions after lunch.
That cold front that caused such a ruckus last evening will reverse course and lift back north as a warm front this afternoon. That will keep temperatures warm again today and most neighborhoods should reach the upper 70s to near 80 degrees for the high.
We will stay unseasonably warm tonight, too. Most places will remain in the upper 60s overnight.
THURSDAY AND FRIDAY
Low pressure will drag our next cold front across the state on Thursday. This one will sink through east-central Ohio during the morning hours and it will likely bring rain and thunder.
I’m not really concerned about severe storms with Thursday’s front. The dynamics will not be as great and the front will come through during the morning – an unfavorable time for strong thunderstorm development.
Hi-res futurecast simulated radar for 8:00 AM Thursday:
The front should clear the Tuscarawas Valley area shortly after lunchtime. Cooler and drier air will fill in behind the front and skies should begin clearing out through the afternoon.
With the cooler air, tomorrow night’s temperatures will be much more in tune with the calendar and nighttime lows will dip to the upper 40s – maybe 50 at the warmest.
We’ll end the work week on Friday with a pretty nice, dry, and much cooler autumn day. Afternoon temperatures will probably not do much better than 70 degrees here in the Valley.
The weather for Friday night football will be dry with mild temperatures.
DRY AND WARM WEEKEND
An upper-level ridge will build over the eastern US for the weekend. This feature will bring mostly dry, sunny and warm conditions to east-central Ohio Saturday and Sunday. Today’s data shows the warmest temperatures for Saturday and slightly cooler on Sunday.
Those hoping for some crisp autumn temperatures will need to wait just a little longer. Climate forecast models indicate that the upper-level ridge will amplify over the next week or so keeping the warm temperatures going through next week.
I won’t go all in quite yet, but with this strong ridge indicated in the climate models, we could be looking at some record-breaking high temperatures next week. Record highs or not, temperatures are likely to hover in the 80s through much of the period.
The longer temperatures remain warm, the longer our growing season will be. Our longest was back in 2007 and so far, this year is in the top five at 185 days.
