Posted Thursday AM, May 6, 2021
Yesterday’s official high temperature at the airport was 58°. That was just after midnight. We spent most of the daytime hours in the 49° to 51° range. For comparison, our average high for May 5th is 70°.
A few places did drop down to near freezing early this morning – mainly in the northern half of the Valley. Bolivar, Dover and Strasburg reported 33° at 7:00 AM while down in Newcomerstown it was 36°. I had a reading of 31° just south of New Phila. I didn’t notice any frost but I’m glad I covered my young garden plants last night.
Despite the chilly start this morning, it will be a brighter day and we will warm up some this afternoon. The afternoon high will get to around 60°/62° north to south. We’ll stay dry in the Valley during the daytime hours. Enjoy the sunshine this morning. After today we probably won’t see a bright day like this again until next week.
Clouds will gradually increase this afternoon as the next low pressure system advances into the region. By sunset, we’ll be looking at favorable rain chances. Once the rain gets going it will likely continue through tonight.
The system will push a cold front through east-central Ohio by early Friday morning. This will likely keep the threat of showers through the morning but the rain should clear out of the area by afternoon. Temperatures will be abysmal. The best we’re going to see is 57°.
We’ll need to keep an eye on temperatures once again Friday night into early Saturday morning. Those areas in the northern part of the Valley will have the best chances of getting cold enough for patchy frost.
VALLEY WEEKEND OUTLOOK
Saturday will likely be the pick day of the weekend but that’s not saying much. An upper-level disturbance moving through the region will keep varying degrees of cloud cover overhead. The clouds can thin some in the afternoon as the disturbance exits to the east.
Unfortunately, Mother’s Day is not looking all that great. The next system will track east to our south headed for the Atlantic.
At the very least, it’ll be a cloudy and gloomy day. Much depends on exactly how far north the low tracks as it travels to the east. Right now the models keep the heaviest and most widespread rain south of our area. A little shift to the north, though, will bring steady rain to the Valley.
Temperatures over the weekend will hover around the mid-50s for daytime highs. Upper-30s to low-40s for nighttime lows.
NEXT WEEK
Showers may linger into Monday morning but the trend will improve Monday afternoon as high pressure nudges into the region. High pressure should keep the area dry and sunny through Wednesday.
Temperatures will remain cooler than normal but we will see a slow warming trend through next week. If all goes as planned, we may even see daytime highs in the 70s by next weekend.
Thanks for taking a few minutes to catch up with the Tuscarawas Valley’s only locally-produced weather forecast. If you like these local weather updates please help me out by telling your friends and family about TUSCWeather. I appreciate it. Have a great day and be safe out there.
