Ohioans, brace yourselves for a bout of wild weather courtesy of a hefty low-pressure system sweeping through the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes region. According to the National Weather Service, the system will deliver a mix of warmer temps, gusty winds, and, yes, rainfall to the Columbus and Cincinnati areas starting Tuesday and continuing into Wednesday. As this burly weather beast exits, you'll feel a chill with cooler temperatures sliding in for the backend of the work week.
Today's forecast is doing a bit of a shuffle, with dew points being nudged down based on what the weather gods are currently dishing out. This tango of readings might drop relative humidity levels to between 25-30 percent across parts of south central Ohio into northeast Kentucky. And hold onto your hats, folks, because winds will possibly get spicy along and west of the Interstate 71 corridor as pressure takes a dive ahead of the system that's hustling northeast through the plains states.
Evening brings a fresh twist with a meteorological mosh pit featuring a 75 to 80 knot jet at 850 mb barreling into the area, This will unload widespread rainfall Tuesday evening, moving from southwest to northeast across the turf. Initial wind gusts could pack a punch thanks to the dry air down low making way for the nose of the jet—this might require some last-minute warnings from the weather honchos, but for now, the plan is to see what nature has up her sleeve and issue rapid-fire advisories if needed. And don't be shocked if you hear the rumble of thunder overnight. The forecast is throwing in a touch of drama with a mention of thunder in the mix.
As the main act of heavy rain takes a bow and shimmy off to the east by dawn Wednesday, we get a sneaky dry slot that could clear things up temporarily in the morning. However, by Wednesday afternoon, break out the windbreaker because a "robust signal" is indicating the likelihood of strong synoptic wind gusts breezing through—possibly skirting near the 40-knot mark, which might trigger the need for an Advisory, but as of now, that's on hold. As temperatures dip back down in the evening with a cold front chasing the system out of town, the encore performance might feature a wintry mix turning into a full-blown snow show by Wednesday night, leading into overnight lows that plunge into the frosty realms of the 20s.
Moving into the longer-term forecast, the post-storm scene will still be blustery on Thursday, but gusts may begin to wind down in the afternoon. You might get lucky as skies clear from the west. By late week, another band of weather—less rock 'n' roll and more indie folk—will zip eastward, bringing potential rain and snow for Friday. But details are still getting ironed out, so snow accumulations are on a "let's wait and see" basis. Come the weekend, we might see the heavens play nice for a hot second before another trough muses a temperature dip again. Overall, it looks like Monday is angling to be calmer and set the stage for a slightly toastier week.
