Friday’s weather in our local area will be pretty much a repeat of yesterday. The only exception will be slightly warmer temperatures this afternoon. Most area locations will reach the upper-80s today. Dew points will be slightly higher as well, but still in the ‘comfortable’ zone.
A weak cold front will approach and cross the east-central Ohio region on Saturday, which will bring the first prospects of rain to the region in quite a while.
There can be a few showers around during the early morning hours on Saturday. out ahead of the front. These won’t be severe, but they will initiate an increase in humidity that we will notice as temperatures warm through the rest of the day. The increase in moisture will also contribute to the potential of severe weather late in the afternoon.
The majority of model guidance does indicate some breaks in cloud cover through the day, which will also help in building instability ahead of the front. Scattered showers and storms will likely develop during the mid-afternoon and continue south into our area late in the afternoon or early evening. (Exact timing is still undecided.)
Depending on the amount of sunshine we happen to get earlier in the day, some of these storms could contain strong winds and hail. There is also a very low risk (2% probability) of an isolated tornado. With this setup, the Storm Prediction Center has all of the east-central Ohio region in a Level 2 (Slight Risk) for the potential of severe thunderstorms.
The threat of any thunderstorms late in the day on Saturday will largely hinge on the amount of sun we get earlier in the day.
The risk of thunderstorms subsides as the front exits the area, instability lessens, and we lose daytime heating late Saturday evening. Sunday will bring a return to fair weather in the Valley, with slightly cooler temperatures and lower humidity.
SUMMERLIKE NEXT WEEK
A warming trend will get underway on Monday and persist through much of next week. It’ll begin to feel more like mid-summer next week as humidity levels ramp up. With the added moisture in the air, daily chances of isolated to scattered showers and storms returning by Tuesday and continuing daily through the rest of the workweek.
