CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – We have established several 19 First Alert Weather Days as a strong and very dynamic system moves into Northeast Ohio.

Despite a calm, almost spring-like start to the day, temperatures will start to drop as a strong cold front moves through the area this afternoon. High temperatures have already been reached today.

This front will bring showers in the afternoon and early evening as winds increase.

Wind warnings have been issued for Lorain, Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula counties until midnight tonight. In these provinces, wind gusts of 80 to 100 km per hour may occur for several hours this afternoon and evening.

Outside of the wind advisory, gusts of up to 45 km/h seem likely. The winds are the result of cold air moving into the region, dropping our temperatures by nearly 15° to 20° in about 4 hours. These strong winds will come along with the cold front and will last until midnight before easing off early Thursday.

Lows tonight will fall into the low to mid 30s tonight as our next round of moisture arrives. This will cause scattered snow showers across the area. With ground temperatures in the 60s and 70s, it will take some time for snow to accumulate on the road surface. Roofs, trees, lawns and elevated surfaces (bridges and overpasses), which can cool much more quickly, are most likely to experience minor snow accumulations during the day on Thursday.

Water temperatures in Lake Erie are also in the low to mid 50s, meaning cold air moving over the lake will warm up a bit once it reaches the lake shore. This will be important for who may see more snow versus rain during the event. For this reason, we maintain minimum snow totals for the lakeshore communities. South of the lake shore, a general trace to 1″ with some isolated higher totals is possible, especially in the higher terrain of our primary snow belt. In these areas, 1″ to 3″ or more are possible. Any improvements to the lake will result in higher totals during the event.

Scattered snow showers will linger around Northeast Ohio all day Thursday before lake effect sets in Thursday evening. If you go to the Browns game on Thursday night, prepare for wind and rain, with some chance of snow.

Warmer air will begin to wrap into this system as it begins to move eastward, bringing temperatures back into the 40s on Friday with snow turning to rain. These will be widespread showers throughout the day and continue into Saturday before the system moves northeast. Precipitation amounts Friday through Saturday could easily be in the 1 to 2 inch range.

Temperatures will recover to the mid and upper 40s this weekend, with Sunday looking to be our dry day for the next seven days.

We’ll start next week on a warmer note before temperatures look to drop back into the 30s and 40s by the middle of next week as the team charts more chances for rain and a possible wintry mix just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday.

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