So what’s the battle? Well, winter is refusing to give up without a fight, and likely, winter will eventually prevail. After all, we still have 69 days to go until spring. But the next 7 to 10 days will bring about a battle of spring and winter-like weather across our region, and it could get quite messy!
The first wave of precipitation is expected Tuesday and will likely continue into the evening with a break in the action on Wednesday.
So here is where the forecast takes a turn for the worse… Yet another storm system looks to move into the area Thursday, bringing more widespread, and potentially heavy rain. The latest models suggest another 1 to 2 inches of rain or more may fall over much of the Miami Valley by the end of the week.
But here is where it gets even more complicated. As the storm system tracks northeast of Ohio on Friday, it will allow shallow, arctic air to start to flow south again back into the state as a cold front drifts south. Unfortunately, the front appears to stall right over Ohio, perhaps somewhere over the Miami Valley, with multiple waves of low-pressure expected to develop and track along the front.
Depending on how far south the cold arctic air makes it, this could set the stage for significant wintry precipitation including freezing rain somewhere in our area. Right now, it is just way too early to know exactly where this icing situation could set up. It could wind up being just a chilly rain - but it is a significant enough threat that I think it is worth mentioning and monitoring.
This is going to be one of those weeks you’ll want to pay very close attention to the weather. There are a lot of nuances to the coming weather pattern that could greatly complicate the forecast, and could also create some major problems. Right now, the time period to really pay attention to appears to be Friday through the coming weekend. You’ll definitely want to keep up with the latest forecast in the coming days and especially if you have travel plans.
Eric Elwell is WHIO StormCenter 7 Chief Meteorologist. Contact him at eric.elwell@coxinc.com or follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
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