Warmup through the weekend, rain returns to Columbus area

QUICK WEATHER FORECAST:

• Tonight: Mixed clouds, low 23
• Saturday: Partly sunny, high 45
• Sunday: Rain likely, high 46
• Monday: Rainy, mild, high 56
• Tuesday: Partly cloudy, high 48

FORECAST DISCUSSION:

Good Friday Evening,

After a nicer day today with sunshine returning, but still temps almost 10 off the normal, we will see another cool, but not as cold of a night. Lows tonight will drop into the lower 20s with some clouds around. Saturday, expect partly sunny skies, with highs back into the middle 40s, or a few degrees above normal.

We will have rain returning to the area, mainly after midnight into Sunday. Sunday should end up being wet, especially the first half of the day, with highs still above normal in the mid to upper 40s. Rain will return later on Monday, with much warmer temps, with highs back in the mid to upper 50s. This would put Monday in the top 8 warmest days for the 16th of December, tied with a year ago.

Once the rain moves out Monday night into early Tuesday, we will enjoy partly cloudy skies on Tuesday with highs still above normal in the upper 40s. Rain showers will return later in the day on Wednesday with highs back slightly above normal in the lower 40s. Showers will continue into Thursday, mainly as cold rain showers, with highs in the upper 30s.

Friday even colder air will spill south as another front drops down, with a chance of a wet mix, with better chances of snow north, and rain south. Temps will climb to the mid 30s on Friday. All indications are that Saturday night's Buckeyes game in a week is going to be a cold one, with temps likely in the 20s, and wind chills potentially in the low to mid teens.

-Dave