Rain, wind, and potentially severe storms are expected this weekend

Windy weather is starting to move in Northeast Ohio's area. News 5 Meteorologist Phil Sakal has updated for tonight's weather.

By: Katie McGraw

SATURDAY MORNING UPDATE:

Plan for rounds of storms with strong winds and heavy rain this weekend.

It will be warm, windy and wet!

Saturday morning has already gotten off to a rockin' and rollin' start, with strong storms moving through. (There were also two severe thunderstorm warnings for hail in Norwalk and New Philadelphia.)

These storms packed a punch with tons of lightning, hail, heavy rain, and gusty winds.

Additional rain/storms are expected later today.

Let's discuss the potential for severe storms for the rest of the day, and time out when rain exits the area.

SET UP: A warm front is moving through the region and has brought this surge in temperatures.

Winds have also already increased, but will continue to strengthen by this weekend as a strong low pressure tracks across the US and moves toward Northeast Ohio.

SEVERE POTENTIAL: This system is also going to be capable of producing widespread severe weather across the eastern half of the United States over the next three days.

On Friday, the threat stayed to our west. On Saturday, the greatest threat for severe weather will be in the southern US, most notably across Mississippi and into Alabama.

According to the Storm Prediction Center, a tornado outbreak is likely on Saturday across the central Gulf Coast States and Deep South into the Tennessee Valley.

Numerous significant tornadoes, some of which should be long-track and potentially violent, are expected on Saturday afternoon and evening.

Meanwhile, back at home across NEO, our risk for severe weather is much lower, but not zero. This is great news, especially taking into account what is expected across the southern US.

NEO's risk is a level 1 out of 5. It means that while severe storms are possible, they should lack organization, and longevity and be pretty isolated across the area.

All modes of severe weather are possible on Saturday.

This includes damaging wind gusts, hail, lightning, and heavy rain. The tornado threat is low but never zero (especially across western Ohio).

Plus it will be windy all day on Saturday - even when it is not raining.

ALERTS: Due to the strong winds expected on Saturday, the National Weather Service in Cleveland has issued a wind advisory for many communities across NEO.

It was expanded early Saturday morning to include more counties and for longer. Gusts over 40 mph will be possible and at times exceeding 50 mph.

For Lorain, Medina, Wayne, Ashland, Richland, Erie, Huron, Ottawa, Seneca, Sandusky, Summit, Portage, and Trumbull Counties the advisory went into effect at 8 am Saturday and remains in effect until 8 pm Saturday.
For Cuyahoga County, the advisory went into effect at 8 am Saturday and remains in effect until 11 am Sunday.
For Lake, Geauga, and Ashtabula Counties, the advisory went into effect at 8 am and remains in effect until 2 pm Sunday.

Gusts over 40 mph are expected this afternoon, and there could be a brief weakening of the winds tonight before picking back up overnight. Below are three images that show projected wind gusts this afternoon, evening and overnight.

STORM TIMING:

While the rain chance is never zero on Saturday, there will be dry periods on Saturday afternoon.

Another round of widespread rain looks to hold off until the late afternoon on Saturday and will continue into Sunday morning.

It will start first after 4 pm in our SW communities and move NE through the early evening.

There is a small window from about 4 to 9 pm when additional strong/severe storms are possible. Instability, which is crucial for severe weather development, drops to nothing quickly this evening.

Remember - it will still be WINDY tonight and into early Sunday.

It will be soaked early Sunday with a gradual drying trend and cooling trend! While the rain chance will decrease on Sunday, so do the temperatures.

The high temperature will be early on Sunday in the upper 50s/low 60s and dropping to the low 50s by Sunday afternoon and into the 40s by Sunday evening with lows in the 30s.

Scroll through the images of Futurecast below to get an idea about the timing and coverage of rain and storms.

The Power of 5 Weather Team will be keeping you updated all weekend. Be sure to have a plan in place. It has been a while since we have had to think about severe weather. Stay safe.