Mild and warm Saturday before the arctic winds unleash (Video)

Are you sick of the cold weather yet? If you answered yes to that question, your homework for Saturday is to go outside and soak in as much mild air as possible! Strong southerly winds will bring a one day warm up before we see a truly arctic air mass settle in the Ohio Valley.

If you have plans for Friday evening, expect clear and skies and chilly weather. The good news for Friday night is that we will not drop into the teens like last night. Winds will pick up from the south this evening allowing temperatures to remain almost steady. We will only drop to just below freezing for an overnight low.

The southerly winds will increase on Saturday morning as a relatively warm air mass is drawn into central Ohio ahead of an advancing frontal boundary. Highs will soar into the upper 40s and possibly even near 50 degrees in some areas. Winds will be strong through the middle of the afternoon. Sustained winds of 20 mph from the south are likely with some gusts of 35 mph possible.

The front will sweep across Ohio on Saturday night with little fanfare other than a quick drop in the temperature. Expect a dramatic difference Sunday morning when you head out the door from what you felt on Saturday. In fact, the thermometer will likely be nearing the freezing mark even as of midnight on Saturday night.

Sunday will actually be “warm” in comparison to what is coming for the first half of next week! Under partly to mostly cloudy skies, temperatures will struggle to make it to 30 degrees. A “clipper system” will swing through Ohio on Sunday night. This is a fast moving area of low pressure that is known for bringing very cold air and even snow to our part of the country.

We are not expecting a lot of snow with this clipper system, although some light snow may accompany it. With lows in the upper teens Monday morning, there will be a higher than usual snow to liquid ratio with any precipitation that occurs. This means we can squeeze out more snow from the same amount of liquid equivalent because water expands as it freezes. Any accumulations should still remain under an inch Monday morning though.

The really cold air will filter in throughout the day on Monday. Even though we will start out in the upper teens, the temperature may only make it a few degrees warmer for a high. Lows are expected to dip into the single digits on both Monday and Tuesday night. Take any extra precautions for those sensitive to the extreme cold. If snow is on the ground by Tuesday night, many locations will likely be below zero. Even if we do not see any snow Monday morning, some outlying areas will still dip below the big goose egg by Wednesday morning. A few locations could even get that cold on Tuesday morning as well.

The coldest air will begin to lift north by Wednesday night ahead of another weather maker that will slide in from the west. This storm system is looking like mostly rain, but small shifts in the expected track could throw some wintry precipitation in there. Keep checking back here on examiner.com for the latest forecasts.

The full 7-Day forecast is in the slideshow!

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, Columbus Weather Examiner

Mike Groenke has had a passion for the weather ever since he was in elementary school. Growing up in Cincinnati, he experienced many types of severe weather including snowstorms, ice storms, flooding, and powerful thunderstorms. Mike is currently studying Meteorology at The Ohio State...

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