Jennifer Edwards Baker reports:
There is a slight risk for severe weather tonight and early Friday.
The main threats will be high, damaging winds gusting more than 60 mph and large, golf-ball size hail as a cold front sinks south into Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, blanketing the region with scattered showers and thunderstorms.
The storms could land here as early as 10 a.m., but they are more likely to arrive this afternoon as the high temperature soars to 88 degrees, said meteorologist John Franks with the National Weather Service in Wilmington.
The worst of the weather will hit about 8 p.m., he predicted.
Most areas will receive a decent soaking of about a half an inch of rain, he said.
Our area could definitely use it. As of this morning, we are 6.63 inches below normal rainfall totals for this time of year at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport – 20.67 inches have fallen compared to the normal 27.30.
Wednesday’s high temperature soared to 99 degrees, just one degree shy of the record high set on that date in 2007, according to the weather service.
More than 2,300 people are without power this morning after thunderstorms rolled through the northern Cincinnati counties of Butler and Warren overnight.
Most of the power outages are in Butler County.
Once the storms push out early Friday, so will the stifling heat that has hung over the region this week, producing smog alerts and temperatures in the mid-90s with heat indexes at or near 100.
The high temperature on Friday will only top out in the upper 70s with plenty of sun, and overnight lows will be in the low 60s and upper 50s.
Saturday could see highs in the low 80s.
“It’s going to be much nicer than what we’ve been seeing,” Franks said.
