Posted Thursday AM March 18, 2021
Today’s forecast will be easy and quick. Pretty much what you see this morning is what you’ll get through the bulk of the day. A quasi-dry slot will wrap around the eastern side of low pressure that may bring a period of reduced rain coverage later in the afternoon. Other than that we’ll see light rain showers persist through the day and this evening.
The almost-steady rainfall will taper off tonight after midnight as the system moves off to the east and merges with another system over the mid-Atlantic. That will bring a speedy end to rain chances here in the Valley. Colder air will wrap in around the departing system and if you’re still awake after midnight you might see a few wet snowflakes mix in with the rain.
It wouldn’t be unusual to hear thunder at some point locally this afternoon. Chances for a thunderstorm will be better in areas south of I-70. Nothing severe is expected to develop in our local area.
Another issue will have to deal with today and tonight is gusty wind. Winds will increase out of the northeast this afternoon becoming 10 to 15 mph. Gusts could reach as high as 30 to 35 mph at times during daytime hours. The wind will become a little stronger this evening and tonight and gusts could get as high as 35 to 40 mph.
Total rainfall across our area will run in the one-inch to maybe an inch and a half. Rainfall looks to stay in the light to moderate range so other than some local street flooding and ponding on the road, high water won’t be an issue. The Mighty Tusky will respond, however, and folks along the river will see an increase in water levels tonight and Friday.
FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND
Surface high pressure and an upper-level ridge will build overhead on Friday. this will stick around through the weekend and into at least the first part of next week. As a result, fair weather will dominate our weekend weather.
Although we’ll see increasing sunshine on Friday, temperatures will be quite chilly for mid-March. Highs locally will probably not do much better than the mid-40s. The good news is that Friday will be the coldest day we see for quite some time. Temperatures will gradually warm up through the weekend.
THROUGH MIDWEEK NEXT WEEK
Ridging and surface high pressure will continue to bring fair weather and a warming trend into next week. Temperatures in the Valley will warm 10° to 15° above normal by mid-week.
SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
Although a thunderstorm is possible in the local area later this afternoon, no severe thunderstorms are expected to develop in our local area over the next three days.
Thank you for checking out the Tuscarawas Valley’s very own local weather outlook. You’ll find local weather updates for the Tuscarawas Valley anytime here and on Twitter. As always, be safe out there!
