Crossing low pressure will generate showers and a few thunderstorms, as well as windy conditions today. Colder weather will follow for the remainder of the week.
Showers and a possible thunderstorm will be likely mainly during the morning hours in the Valley. We will see the threat of rain and storms diminish some in the afternoon, but isolated showers and storms will remain possible. Severe thunderstorms are not expected in east-central Ohio today.
The big concern today will be the wind. Although the threat for high wind gusts has shifted a bit toward the north today, we still have the potential for some 45 mph to 50 mph gusts locally. Winds will be strongest in the Valley late this morning into early afternoon. We will start to see the wind back off after 4:00 PM / 5:00 PM. It will remain breezy tonight with gusts in the 25 mph to 30 mph range.
Notice that the gusts can approach 50 mph. The wind won’t be that strong all the time. I see many folks mentioning 50 mph wind but fail to explain that winds will only be that stong intermittently and not all the time. There’s a big difference. Most sustained wind will be in the 20 mph to 30 mph range. I still expect we’ll see power outages and tree damage in spots throughout the day today. A Wind Advisory is in effect for today.
Temperatures today will be warmest this morning – right around 60°. Temperatures will decrease this afternoon after a cold front crosses the area. New Phila will drop to about 50°/52° by 5:00 PM. Temperatures will continue to slide downward overnight to around freezing by sunrise Tuesday.
Unfortunately, today’s front will bring some cold air that’s going to stick around for much of this week. Temperatures locally will stay colder than average through Friday. The models do show a warming trend getting underway over the weekend.
11:31 AM UPDATE: While it seems the wind that was promised is delayed a bit this morning, it will pick up during the afternoon. The rain showers currently over east-central Ohio is acting as a cap preventing strong winds aloft from mixing down. Once these morning showers exit late this morning, the cap will erode and allow the upper-level winds to mix down to the surface.
