Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh would presumably like the weather we’re likely to see in north central Ohio in the next few days.
The post-Impressionist painter, who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history, loved him a good storm.
“There is peace even in the storm,” van Gogh once said, though it’s not likely he meant the meteorological variety, given other issues in his life.
Well, that’s what we’re talking about in Richland, Ashland and Knox counties.
The National Weather Service office in Cleveland has launched our weather week with a hazardous outlook for this evening and through the night.
Severe thunderstorms are possible with the usual accompanying damaging wind gusts, some perhaps significant. The chance of precipitation is 70 percent, according to the NWS.
Large hail and isolated tornadoes may also be possible.
Repeated thunderstorms and heavy rainfall could also lead to flash flooding.
If that’s not enough to meet your summer weather needs, how about some heat and high humidity?
Today’s high will be 86, which will seem like a cold front compared to Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Highs those days are expected to be 94, 98 and 92 with enough humidity to slow a thoroughbred in the backstretch.
There is also a 30 percent chance of rain on Tuesday, mainly before 7 a.m. The clouds will then roll off and give the sun direct aim at exposed skin that doesn’t have the necessary sunscreen.
The dreaded “heat index values,” which combine temps and humidity, will be around 102 on Tuesday. The heat index sounds like a winter wind chill in reverse, to be honest.
It will be sunny on Wednesday before a chance of showers and thunderstorms returns that night and into Thursday.
Now for some good news. The weekend forecast looks real and it looks spectacular.
It will be sunny Friday, Saturday and Sunday with highs rising only into the high 70s and low 80s.
So fire up the fans and air conditioners. Prepare to batten down the hatches and rig for heavy weather. It’s summer in Ohio, after all.
