Ohio Ag Net | Ohio's Country Journal Ohio Ag Net | Ohio's Country Journal 
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!. We will be much colder as we celebrate, thanks to a frontal boundary working through the state today. Moisture started late yesterday and expanded overnight in many areas of Ohio. Today we continue to see light rains moving through, but will also see winds pick up, especially after the front passes and colder air rushes in. We see no reason to deviate from the rain totals we have been talking up recently, with most of the state looking at half an inch or less combined on the rain totals, including what has fallen so far.
We turn much colder late this afternoon and we won’t rule out a few wet snowflakes up north. Strong west winds will dominate the region over the weekend. These winds will produce lake effect snow, but with more of a western direction, that lake effect stays mostly over MI and Ontario. We will allow some potential lake effect in NE Ohio tomorrow, while the rest of the state sees a mix of clouds and sun. Sunday we are partly to mostly sunny in all parts of the state. However, it is likely the coldest day out of the next 6, with temps Sunday afternoon 15-21 degrees below normal, as the map below shows.
A reinforcing shot of cold air arrives for the start of next week as arctic high pressure moves in over the nation’s midsection. Temps will easily remain 10-15 degrees below normal Monday and Tuesday. However, with the high pressure dome in control, we also can look for sunny days, and since we are in mid-March, sun angle will help with the cold those days. Wednesday is likely not quite as cold as Monday-Tuesday. But clouds will start to build late as well.
Our next disturbance is in here for Thursday of next week with a chance of rain. That moisture may linger into early Friday next week. Rain totals look to be half an inch or less for the most part with 70% coverage. We do expect some changes in the system as we get closer to the event. We cool just a bit behind that front for next Friday, but then see temps moderate into the weekend of the 25th and the following week.
