The week long streak of dry weather came to an end Saturday as an afternoon thunderstorm pushed through Youngstown. Despite the fantastic weather conditions this morning, more showers and storms are expected this afternoon as a strong cold front will push through the area.
Due to mostly clear conditions Sunday morning, temperatures will rise into the upper 70s to around 80 degrees before clouds move in ahead of the cold front by the early afternoon hours.
The chance of rain showers will begin to increase around 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon. Then, a line of showers and thunderstorms will push through the Valley between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday evening. The Storm Team 27 Future Tracker shows the line of storms moving through the area below.
The wind will steadily increase ahead of the cold front Sunday. Southwest winds sustained at 10-15 MPH with gusts up to 25 MPH will be common before the thunderstorms arrive.
When the line of showers and thunderstorms moves through the Valley Sunday afternoon wind gusts between 30 and 40 MPH are possible. There is a small possibility of wind gusts higher than this, but winds will likely stay below severe limits.
The graph below shows the expected wind speeds and gusts for today. Notice the peak in the winds around the 6-7 p.m. timeframe as the storms move through the area.
The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has placed all of our viewing area in a 1 out of 5 risk for severe thunderstorms this afternoon. Once again, severe thunderstorms will not be widespread but isolated damaging wind gusts will be possible.
Showers and thunderstorms will continue throughout the evening hours and then much colder air will move into the Valley for the start of the work week.
In fact, the last half of April is trending colder than average and these cool temperature could continue into the first part of May.
