60s on Wednesday; snow by Friday evening

Most of Southwest Ohio will see the thermometer hit 60 on Wednesday, but scattered showers through Friday morning will change over to snow before the week is over.

The mild temperatures Wednesday and Thursday will offer those who may have lingering home projects to do to get them finished before the cold blast arrives.

Clouds should thicken tonight with lows in the mid-40s at about midnight.

On Wednesday, the air temperature will rise into the upper 40s by sunrise when stray showers are possible. The afternoon will be wetter with scattered showers, according to Storm Center 7 Chief Meteorologist Jamie Simpson. Showers will continue through a good part of Wednesday night.

"It will definitively be the warmest day this week," Simpson said. "It may also be one of the last chances we have to hit 60 this year."

Thursday will bring rain at times with the most significant dry stretch in the middle part of the day.

A cold front moves through around or just after sunrise, and temperatures will fall through the day, Simpson said. "We will be in the low to mid-50s for the (Thursday) morning commute, and down to near 40 for the evening commute. We'll continue to fall into the 30s overnight with more rain."

While there still may be some rain at sunrise Friday southeast of the Dayton area, most in the region will see a transition to a wintry mix from northwest to about Dayton after midnight Thursday and into Friday morning.

The mix will include sleet and freezing rain, Simpson said.

The temperature will be near 32 much of the day, and then drop to the upper 20s late as the mix changes to snow from northwest to southeast mid-morning to late in the day. The snow should end by midnight.

With the warmer days and wet roads that we have before the changeover, road salt should work well for much of Friday, Simpson said, but that effectiveness will change heading into Friday night as the weather turns colder.

Temperatures will fall below freezing in the evening and all the way down to the mid-teens by sunrise Saturday. Lingering road issued are very possible Saturday morning as well, Simpson said.

Because the changeover will happen quickly with the big temperature drop overnight into Saturday, Simpson recommended having a good ice scraper ready to go.

"Mid-teens is when salt doesn't work as well, so that will be something to be aware of Saturday morning also," he said.

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