CLEVELAND — Quiet weather continues tonight. Skies will be partly cloudy during the overnight, and temperatures will drop into the low to mid 20s by sunrise.
One more quiet day to get shopping done on Wednesday. Skies will be mostly cloudy as we head into the middle of the week, with highs in the upper 30s to near 40.
3 DAYS OUT... Not much to change about our thinking for this winter storm. A HIGH-IMPACT WINTER STORM will likely affect Northern Ohio beginning early Friday morning lingering into early Christmas Day. Low pressure will develop in the Southern Plains on Thursday morning and then slide northeast into Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan Friday morning. The storm system will rapidly intensify causing multiple issues for Friday & Saturday across the area. Scattered rain showers are likely Thursday and Thursday night putting down a layer of liquid on the roads and bridges. A strong arctic cold front will race east thru Ohio between 4 am and 9 am Friday morning. Temperatures will fall rapidly from the 40s into the 20s and teens during the morning rush causing rapid freezing of any water on untreated surfaces. A brief burst of snow (1" or less) will accompany the cold front early Friday. Winds will also be gusty...30-40 mph Thursday night and Friday morning. Travel could be difficult due to icy conditions for the Friday morning commute. We will likely then have several hours of dry, cold and windy weather thru mid to late afternoon Friday. This could allow travelers to hit the road during this brief window. Keep in mind, blizzard-like conditions will be underway Friday across Western Ohio, Northern Indiana, Northern Illinois & Michigan. Wrap around snow plus 50+ mph wind gusts will arrive by late afternoon or evening Friday across the northern half of our viewing area. Conditions will deteriorate rapidly Friday into Saturday morning with blowing and drifting snow and dangerous wind chills likely most everywhere across Northern Ohio. Lake enhanced snow could make travel very tough on I-90 heading east out of Cleveland. As low pressure pulls to the northeast Saturday morning, most of the snow will end quickly. Lake effect snow will likely set up across the primary snowbelt with continued snow accumulations across Lake, Geauga, & Ashtabula Counties thru Sunday where squalls persist. Elsewhere, Windy Cold weather remains will highs in the single digits and lower teens thru Christmas Day and wind chills to -15 degrees. WHAT WE ARE CONFIDENT ABOUT: 1) ARCTIC COLD with a Rapid temperature drop and a flash freeze Friday morning. 2) VERY HIGH WINDS gusting above 50 mph at times creating wind chills well below zero thru Christmas Day. WHAT WE ARE LESS CONFIDENT ABOUT: 1) POSITION OF THE LOW PRESSURE. A strong bomb cyclone over Lake Erie would be much worse for us than a strong storm over Southern Ontario. 2) SNOWFALL TOTALS. Once again, we are NOT on the favorable side of the storm for the heaviest snow fall amounts. Still, several inches of snow are possible for all of us across Northern Ohio by midday Christmas Day with areas of the snowbelt east of Cleveland likely to see the heaviest accumulations. Today's the day I introduce a snowfall guestimate map on air. Now is the time to prepare.
What To Expect:
- Quiet start to the week
- Seasonal temps through Thursday
- Tracking strong winter storm
- Rain, Ice and Snow all possible
- Temps Plummet Friday
- FRIGID Christmas
Daily Breakdown:
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy. Cold. | Low: 23º
Wednesday: Cloudy skies. Isolated rain. Blustery. | High: 38º
Thursday: Rain to Snow Showers. Cloudy. | High: 43º
Friday: Snow. Accumulations possible! Falling Temps. Very windy. Much Colder. Chills to -15 | High: 42º Early. Teens by afternoon.
Christmas Eve: Partly cloudy. Widely scattered snow. Lake effect snow possible east. Still windy. Very Cold. Chills to -15. | High: 10º
Christmas Day: Cloud/sun mix. Very cold. | High: 15º
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