NOTE: Ohio will conduct a statewide tornado drill on Wednesday, March 20 at 9:50 AM. Weather radios will alert and communities across the state will activate (test) outdoor tornado sirens. The WEA (Wireless Emergency Alert) system will be tested as well.
Chilly temperatures for this time of the season will continue today despite a good bit of sunshine. Our average high temperature should be in the low 50s in the Valley but we’re not quite there yet.
Other than a weak disturbance moving through the region this afternoon and bringing us some clouds, today will be a nice but cool day. Those afternoon clouds will decrease tonight allowing temperatures to dip back to the upper 20s to near 30 overnight.
Sunshine and dry conditions will start out Wednesday but clouds will increase through the day as low pressure lifts a warm front into east-central Ohio. Dry air should keep any showers with this at bay but just as astronomical spring arrives Wednesday evening showers will be advancing from the west as a cold front approaches. The system’s cold front will likely bring some rain into the Valley Wednesday night.
Rain showers will continue into Thursday morning but our weather will begin to see improvement during the afternoon as the rain pushes off to the east. Dry weather should return by Thursday evening.
Temperatures on Wednesday will get into the low 50s and cool back to the upper 40s on Thursday as chilly air moves in behind the cold front.
FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND
High pressure will gradually build over the weekend to bring a stretch of nice sunny weather for a change. Clouds and sun will dominate on Friday and temperatures will remain rather cool. With high pressure firmly in place by Saturday, we can expect abundant sunshine and somewhat warmer temperatures. Sunday continues with bright sun with afternoon highs warming to around average. If you’ve been waiting for decent weather to clean up the vehicles, this would be it.
LONGER RANGE
There is not much of a change in my general thinking for the longer range. It continues to appear that a milder temperature pattern will set up to finish out the latter half of the month and continue into early April.
However, those warmer temperatures may be accompanied by a more active pattern and chances for storms and periods of rain.
