“Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces up, snow is exhilarating; there is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.” — Author John Rushkin
Enjoy the weekend thaw, folks.
With apologies to playwright Eugene O’Neill, the iceman cometh.
And right fast.
Cold temperatures, the likes of which north central Ohio hasn’t seen in a few years, are about to come racing down from the arctic on a bone-chilling sled, easily digging deep into Richland, Ashland and Knox counties.
According to the National Weather Service office in Cleveland, the actual (not wind chill) temperatures are headed well south of zero on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
It’s not expected to be record-setting cold. That jaw-dropping mark was set in 1899 in the tiny unincorporated Perry County community of Milligan at 39 below zero, according to weather records.
Warmer in Alaska
How crazy is this weather?
Next week, when north central Ohio temps fall below zero, the highs in Anchorage, Alaska, are expected to be in the mid 30s.
Grab the sun tan lotion and head to the nation’s 49th state.
It’s also coming comes in mid January, when Ohio often experiences its coldest temperatures. According to the National Weather Service, the coldest winter days in Mansfield have largely come between Jan. 12 and Jan. 24.
The coldest days were on Jan. 19, 1994, and Jan, 20, 1985, when the thermometer sank to -22 each day, according to the National Weather Service. That time in 1994 was especially troublesome when it was -19 on Jan. 18.
That time in 1994 was brutal around the state. Akron (-25 degrees) and Columbus (-22) also set low-water marks for temperatures on Jan. 19. It was 24-below zero that day in Cincinnati, which is that city’s second coldest day, behind the -24 degrees it recorded in 1977.
So what do we expect in the next few days?
On Saturday, we will have some snow, possibly becoming all snow after 1 p.m. The high will near 35. There is 100 percent chance of precipitation, but snow is expected at no more than half an inch.
The low Saturday night will be around 13 under mostly cloudy skies.
The deep freeze starts to invade on Sunday. The high will be around 17 with again cloudy skies.
It takes a firmer hold Sunday night when the low drops to 4 below zero.
The high on Monday will barely scrape above zero, perhaps around 1 degree.
The low Monday night will drop to -7 under partly cloudy skies.
The high on Tuesday will again reach 1 degree and then sink to 11 below zero Tuesday night.
Weather officials will have a better idea on wind chills as we get through the weekend.
The good news it gets warmer after that. The high Wednesday will soar to 11 and will drop to 5 degrees during the night.
The high on Thursday is expected to reach 23 degrees.
