Heavy rain leading to a flood threat today

Columbus and Central Ohio Weather

QUICK WEATHER FORECAST:

• Today: Rainy, heavy at times with some thunderstorms, breezy, high 63
• Tonight: Rain showers ending, low 33
• Wednesday: Mostly cloudy, seasonally cool, high 40
• Thursday: Wintry mix, high 37
• Friday: Light AM snow showers, then mostly cloudy & chilly, high 31
• Saturday: Clearing, cold, high 32

FORECAST DISCUSSION:

Happy TWOsday!

Heavy rain is leading to a flood threat across Central Ohio. Flood watches are in effect for most of the area until early Wednesday morning. There are a few flood watches and warning in effect now as well.

So far it's been a wet, but warm start to the day. Since we'll stay ahead of a cold front through the afternoon, we'll continue to usher in warm air thanks to a southerly breeze. This breeze will pick up as the front approaches with gusts up to around 40 mph. Alongside this breeze, we'll have a steady flow of rain. We could pick up around another 1/2-1 inch of rainfall through the day, which will lead to some flooding.

As the front moves through tonight, showers will start to come to an end. Behind the cold front, colder, drier air will start to filter in and aid in dropping temperatures to the low to mid 30s.

Wednesday is shaping up to be a typical Ohio February day with dry, cloudy conditions and seasonally chilly temperatures. Highs will only approach around 40 degrees, but feel cooler thanks to a northwesterly breeze.

Another system will move into the area Wednesday night into Thursday. Showers will build in from the south, and with temperatures climbing to the mid 30s we will see a wintry mix of rain, snow, sleet and freezing rain. Snow and ice accumulations are expected to be light, but keep in mind that even a glaze of ice or light coating of snow can be dangerous.

Snow showers mixed with sleet and freezing rain will wrap up Friday morning. As wintry showers clear out, we'll be left with a chilly and cloudy end to the week.

Cold temperatures will continue in over the weekend as high pressure moves in and adds back in sunshine.

Have a great day!

-Liz