Expect a summer-like weekend with storms
Hot today, and morning and early afternoon may be the driest time.
Today may be the warmest day of the year so far, and the entire weekend has a chance for thunderstorms to go with it.
Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer, and this weekend’s weather will fit that summery vibe for good and for bad.
Today may be the warmest day of the year so far, but the whole weekend has a chance for thunderstorms to go with the heat.
Storm Center 7 Chief Meteorologist McCall Vrydaghs said today will have a wide range of weather. The morning and early afternoon may be the best weather of the whole weekend, or at least the driest.
Temperatures will rise from the 60s in the morning into the high 80s this afternoon. But around dinner and into the early evening, the Dayton area may see its best chance of strong storms.
“Saturday in the late afternoon/ evening time, some thunderstorms will move in from the north,” Vrydaghs said. “They do have the threat to bring some strong to damaging winds, heavy rain and hail. Those are our main concerns.”
Vrydaghs said Sunday will have fairly widespread showers and thunderstorms, with the wettest weather in the afternoon. Temperatures will again start in the 60s and climb just barely over 80 degrees.
Monday’s weather for parades and Memorial Day services is more uncertain, and again, there’s a chance for storms, as temperatures should again reach the low 80s.
Before Thursday, the Dayton
area only had five days with highs in the 80s this year. If the forecast holds, Monday would be the fifth day in a row in the 80s. The average high for the last week of May in Dayton is 74 or 75 degrees. Last year’s Memorial Day weekend was one of the hottest in recent years, as temperatures hit 90 on Sunday and Monday.
School’s out for the summer already for many students, and most swimming pools begin their seasons this weekend. Boating families often use the long Memorial Day weekend to get out on the water.
“It’s going to be warm, and it’s going to feel like summer,” Vrydaghs said. “You just need to make sure you have something that’s going to alert you if there are thunderstorms developing in the area.”
Vrydaghs said the WHIO Weather App has a lightning detection feature that can send you an alert of lightning danger in your area, even if there’s not a severe storm warning.
“That’s important especially if you’re going to be boating or out in the water, as people open their pools this weekend,” she said.