Ohioans enjoy reprieve from winter
Central Ohio and the eastern United States enjoyed a sunshiny, leave-the-wintercoat-at-home Tuesday, with warm temperatures that broke numerous records, at least more than 125 years old.
In Columbus, it was the warmest day of the year so far, reaching 69 degrees just before 11 a.m. at John Glenn Columbus International Airport, well above the 40 or so degrees the area averages for a daily high temperature during a typical February.
“Our low (Tuesday) morning was above the normal high,” said Brian Haines, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s office in Wilmington. “This is really warm for this time of year.”
The high temperature for Columbus on Tuesday was 77 degrees at 4:03 p.m., breaking the record high for Feb. 20 and falling just one degree shy of tying the 78-degree record high for the month set last year on Feb. 24.
The previous record high for the day — 68 degrees — was set in 1891 and tied in 2016, Haines said. Columbus fell one degree short Monday of the hightemperature record for Feb. 19 when it hit 69 degrees.
Similar record highs were recorded at cities across Ohio. Dayton reached 75 degrees, breaking the record of 69 degrees set on Feb. 20, 2016.
Cincinnati reached 79 degrees, shattering not only the high record for the date but the all-time record-high temperature for February of 78 degrees set in 2017. The city is also experiencing flooding along the Ohio River as runoff from snowmelt and heavy rains that flooded Pittsburgh over the weekend and soaked southern Ohio and northern West Virginia moves downriver.
Despite rainy or overcast skies most of the day, Toledo and Cleveland also broke daily high records set in 1930. Cleveland hit 73 degrees, surpassing the previous record of 69, and Toledo reached 69, pushing past the previous mark of 66. The high of 78 in Pittsburgh shattered by 10 degrees the previous high for the date set 127 years ago in 1891.
Hope you enjoyed some time outdoors Tuesday because the rest of the week won’t be as nice, with continued rainfall that could cause creek and stream flooding. And there’s a chance of freezing rain Thursday morning.
“The second part of the week, we’re really going to have to keep an eye on things,” Haines said.
Temperatures are expected to drop into the 30s Wednesday night before slowly rising back to the 50s by the weekend.
February should finish warmer than usual, but Haines wasn’t so sure about March.
Still, Haines said, “I think the worst of winter is probably gone.”