Arctic front to snap mild spell

2/14/2004

After more than a week of relatively mild winter weather, another arctic blast has its sights set on the Toledo area this weekend, forecasters say.

While local temperatures will reach the 30s by midmorning today, that will be followed by the afternoon passage of a cold front that will usher in much colder air, said Alex Sosnowski, a senior forecaster with AccuWeather, Inc., a private forecasting service based in State College, Pa.

Temperatures will drop into the teens during the evening, with a morning low tomorrow of about 10 degrees. Monday morning will be even colder, with a low near zero, Mr. Sosnowski said.

The front will be accompanied by scattered snow flurries and showers, he added.

Some of the showers may be heavy enough to make roads slick and cause visibility problems for high-speed traffic. “It doesn t appear that there will be enough to shovel or plow,” he said.

Winds will make the chill even chillier. A 15-mph breeze will make today s high feel only like the low 20s. Wind chills will dip slightly below zero tomorrow morning and again tomorrow night and Monday, according to AccuWeather s forecast.

While tomorrow s forecast high of 17 is well below the normal of 35, Mr. Sosnowski said, the cold probably won t break records. Tomorrow s record low is minus 6, set in 1905; Monday s is minus 8, set in 1963. The normal low for both days is 19.

A below-zero reading on Monday would be Toledo s fourth of the season, two more than last winter. Morning temperatures have bottomed at precisely zero on two other days.

The frigid air should become gradually milder, with near-normal conditions likely to return by Wednesday, Mr. Sosnowski said.

At least partial sunshine is forecast each day through the period.