Jennifer Edwards Baker reports:
Grab an umbrella and coat as you head out the door this morning.
After two days of near-record heat, temperatures across Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky will fall throughout the day. Rain also will set in as a strong cold front advances from the northwest, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington.
At 5 a.m. it was 62 degrees at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. Temperatures will slide into the 50s by lunchtime and plunge into the upper 40s by 5 p.m.
There’s a 60 percent chance for showers, mainly after 4 p.m.
The rain will continue tonight through 11 a.m. Saturday with wind gusts topping 24 mph. About three-fourths of an inch of rain is possible.
The overnight low will be 42 degrees.
Saturday will be windy and chilly with the high temperature struggling to reach the mid-50s.
Normally for this time of year, the high temperature makes it to 63 degrees. Over the last week, our region has enjoyed a streak of warmer-than-normal weather.
The high both Wednesday and Thursday peaked at 78 degrees, just below record highs both days, said meteorologist Brian Coniglio.
That trend is clearly over as the low Saturday night falls to a brisk 37 degrees.
Sunday should dawn mostly sunny with a high of 50 degrees. Sunday night’s low will plunge to 33.
Looking ahead to next week and Halloween, the colder-than normal temperatures will stick around through at least Thursday.
It will be dry next week but daytime highs will top out in the upper 40s or barely break the 50-degree mark.
Overnight lows will hover in the mid-30s.
It remains uncertain how Hurricane Sandy will impact our weather.
Federal and private weather forecasters say there is a good chance much of the East coast will get hit with gale-force winds, heavy rain, flooding and maybe even snow early next week through Halloween on Wednesday.
Hurricane Sandy, now in the Caribbean, is expected merge with a winter storm and a blast of arctic air, creating what forecasters are branding “Frankenstorm.”
It should hit Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Coniglio said, and that could lead to high winds here.
“It’s hard to say what will happen,” he said. “It might stay to the east.”
