COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Keep the umbrella ready tonight and Thursday. Drier conditions develop on Friday and through the weekend.
- WEDNESDAY NIGHT: mostly cloudy, mild, scattered showers, patchy fog, low 63.
- THURSDAY: mostly cloudy, mild, scattered showers, high 76.
- FRIDAY: partly cloudy, pleasant, high 78.
- SATURDAY: mostly sunny, high 79.
- SUNDAY: partly cloudy, high 81.
- MONDAY: partly cloudy, high 80.
- TUESDAY: partly cloudy, high 80.
- WEDNESDAY: partly cloudy, high 76.
Thick clouds are covering most of Ohio this afternoon and some light showers are falling in North Central and Northeastern Ohio. Temperatures are much cooler than yesterday with many midday readings in the upper-60s. Dewpoints are close behind the temperatures, so the relative humidity is very high. A small low-pressure center is traversing the state this afternoon, generating some of the showers. A chance for showers remains likely through the evening and into the overnight hours. Thunder is possible, but, where it happens at all, it will be isolated.
Another low barrels through the state on Thursday, generating showers and thunderstorms, and dragging a cold front across the region. Most of the showers will be focused in the morning hours, but a few may linger into the early afternoon. Temperatures will remain mild and seasonable.
High pressure starts to build into the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley regions on Friday, but it will have to fend off an approaching cold front. Despite the front, we are likely to stay dry and enjoy some sunshine. High pressure remains in the region on Saturday.
Sunday becomes a little more complicated. By then, even with high pressure still in our area, several other systems become mildly influential. One is a low traveling through the Great Lakes. Another is a low off the coast of the Carolinas. And another is a yet-to-earn-a-name tropical system that moves into the Bahamas. The protective dome over Ohio should hold, keeping us dry, but it may be a struggle. We’ll add some clouds for the day.
The tropical system strengthens by Monday, pushing rain up and down the East Coast. Ohio is just far enough west that we will get some clouds but likely remain dry for the day. We will continue our cloud cover into Tuesday and Wednesday as the tropical system slides farther north.
TROPICAL UPDATE: Category 2 Hurricane Gabrielle is picking up speed as it races into the North Atlantic, moving away from North America and heading for the Azores. It is expected to plow into the Iberian Peninsula this weekend. In the meantime, two systems are expected to develop in the next several days. A storm spreading heavy rainfall and gusty winds across Puerto Rico today has an 80% chance of becoming a named tropical cyclone as it plows into the Bahamas in the next couple of days. Another system, farther out in the Atlantic, has a 90% chance of becoming a named cyclone, perhaps even later today. Both of these systems are likely to have direct effects on the East Coast.
