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Rain returns Thursday with a chance of strong or severe storms

Cleveland forecast from the Power of 5 weather team

By: Katie McGraw

Posted at 4:40 PM, Mar 13, 2024

and last updated 2024-03-13 16:41:09-04

After beautiful and warm days, a new system is approaching from the plains and will bring the return of rain, with the possibility of storms and drop our temperatures significantly by the weekend. Low pressure will be moving out of the plains toward Northeast Ohio, with a cold front sliding through on Friday. This will bring a few rounds of showers and storms on Thursday and Friday.

There is a possibility some of the storms could become strong or severe Thursday afternoon and evening. This is especially true in the western half of the state or west of I-77. The Storm Prediction Center has issued a marginal risk for severe storms, including around Cleveland. A marginal risk is a level one out of five which means isolated strong or severe storms will be possible, but there is usually limited organization to the storms, they do not typically last long, and coverage is low. SPC uses dark green to show the marginal risk of severe weather. There is a much greater risk for severe storms on Thursday to our south and west, like in Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois. Southern Ohio has a better chance of severe storms compared to Northern Ohio.

Thursday's risk for severe weather is a conditional threat. There is some uncertainty regarding timing, the exact placement of the low pressure, and how rounds of storms interact with each other. If we have a lot of clouds and showers and storms that develop ahead of the main line/severe threat, it will be very difficult for storms to get big and strong. This looks more probable for tomorrow; however, the opposite would be true if there was more sunshine/no storms earlier in the day. The purpose of this article is to alert you to the possibility of damaging storms tomorrow, but it is certainly not a guarantee. We just hope to get you weather-aware.

If storms become strong or severe, the main threat would be winds around 50 to 60 mph, but hail and isolated tornadoes cannot be ruled out either. Every storm, regardless of strength, contains lightning and that is dangerous in itself. When thunder roars, get indoors. Thunder is a response to lightning in the area. If you can hear thunder, you are close enough to get struck by lightning.

We will be keeping you posted in a variety of ways ahead of storms - especially this evening with Mark Johnson on News 5 and with Trent Magill tomorrow morning from 4:30 am until 7 am. Stay safe!