Posted Thursday, July 30, 2020, 9:33 AM
UPDATED 5:48 PM
Today will be a cloudier day in the Valley with a weak front sliding south through east-central Ohio. There can be spotty showers and maybe even some thunder at times during the afternoon but the highest chances of more widespread rain will set up along and south of I-70. We are not expecting any severe storms or heavy rain today. Here’s a look at the simulated radar product from one of our high-resolution models for today:
Showers and isolated thunder chances will decrease late tonight as that front exits south and east of the region. With the lack of unfiltered sun, temperatures across the region will be a little cooler this afternoon with highs locally in the mid-80s. It will also be a bit more humid with afternoon dew points in the upper-60s.
Friday should be a nice summer day in the Valley. Cloudiness in the morning will gradually clear in the afternoon allowing for clouds and sun as slightly drier air moves in behind the front. I’ll need to keep a slight chance of a shower or sprinkle during the morning with that boundary nearby but the majority of us should stay dry. Dew points will come down to the low-60s.
The weekend forecast is trending a little wetter. This can be both bad and good news. We certainly need the rain but that can be disappointing when rain comes over the weekend.
Low pressure will track out of the Mississippi Valley toward the Great Lakes region on Saturday. Saturday may start out dry but odds for showers and storms will gradually increase south to north along with clouds during the afternoon. Occasional showers and a few thunderstorms will be possible Saturday night through Sunday as the system moves through.
WEATHER MAP FOR SATURDAY, AUGUST 01The good news for our farms and lawns is that we’re likely to end up with a half-inch to one-inch of rain out of this over the weekend. I think the NWSWPC is a little aggressive with the precip totals on this map, but it does illustrate where the heaviest rainfall is expected.
NEXT WEEK
There will be a lot of uncertainty in the forecast – particularly in the precipitation forecast – as we head into next week. Although it is highly unlikely we will see any direct impacts from the tropical system moving into the southeast US, it will influence other weather systems nearby. Until the tropical forecast gets resolved, precipitation forecasts for eastern Ohio will be difficult to pin down. For now, I would be hard-pressed to include anything other than occasional showers each day until after that tropical system makes landfall along the Florida coast.
Otherwise, there is increasing confidence on a cooler start to August for the region. While we won’t see temperatures in the 60s, model trends do lean toward a slightly cooler than average period to start the new month. Locally, our average high into the first week of August is 84°.
