We dodged one bullet overnight as storms from the west weakened before arriving here and we had nothing more than rain, thunder and some small hail. The hail report came from Blanchester in Clinton County. There were 142 severe weather reports yesterday, including 16 tornado reports…and at this point, no injuries or fatalities.

We may pull a “Keanu Reeves in Matrix” maneuver today and dodge a second round of danger as showers and thunderstorms develop in scattered fashion ahead of an approaching cold front. For those who have no idea what I am referring to above, the movie Matrix is about a guy (Keanu) who gets pulled into an alternate, computer driven reality where he has the power to literally slow down time, and as bad guys are firing barrages of bullets, he can see them and twist his body in such a way that each shot misses him. It’s an interesting series of films, but it got a little weird by the third one…but I digress.

The cold front will race east across the Ohio Valley by mid to late afternoon. Ahead of it, we’ll see sunshine and highs climbing into the 70s. However, there are already new thunderstorms near Louisville and we’ll see scattered showers and thunderstorms after noon, through 5 PM. The storms may become severe, but the timing of the storms may create a less favorable environment for severe storms, and that’s how we dodge bullet number two…but we’re not Mr. Reeves just yet, and there is still a real risk for severe thunderstorms this afternoon. The main threat will be hail and damaging winds along with frequent lightning. Isolated tornadoes are always possible, but the atmosphere here isn’t favoring the “spin” needed for tornadoes, so that risk is low.

After a very mild day with scattered storms, the week of spring weather comes to a decided end and we’ll have a cold, damp weekend ahead. Highs will be near 50 tomorrow with mostly cloudy skies and spotty showers. Highs will hold to the 40s on Sunday with more sprinkles…and there may even be a few flakes of snow Saturday night and Sunday morning, and again Sunday night into Monday morning. It could be worse. Parts of the plains and upper Midwest have blizzard conditions with 2 to 6 inches of snow in Nebraska, 4 to 15 inches in South Dakota and from 2 to 12 inches of snow over most of Minnesota…adding to the record snowy winter in those areas.

Keep alert for the next 5 hours or so as the storm threat arrives and then passes, especially if you’re running errands or heading out to lunch. The storms can develop quickly and I want you to be prepared. By the evening drive, the storms should be heading east, and by sunset, the storm threat will be gone…and the warmth will be departing with it. I see warmer air rushing back in by next Wednesday, so winter is not making a return. Spring is just taking a break. Have a great weekend!

Rich Apuzzo  :)
Skyeye Weather LLC
www.skyeyeweather.com