Early showers and a few rumbles were expected in Columbus on Sunday morning, but the wet start was not set to last. As the warm front lifted northeast, skies were expected to clear in the afternoon and temperatures were forecast to jump from the 50s into the middle 80s.
That warm-up is the first step in a stretch that should feel more like summer than spring. Plenty of sunshine was expected to start the work and school week, and Monday was forecast to be the warmest day of the year so far, with highs in the upper 80s to near 90. Tuesday was also expected to be very warm and muggy, with another run at the upper 80s and a chance of storms late in the day.
The timing matters because the unsettled weather is expected to arrive right after the brief burst of heat. Showers and storms were forecast overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, when temperatures were expected to start warm before topping out near normal in the mid 70s. The local Columbus weather forecast points to a midweek cold front as the dividing line between the early-week heat and the cooler stretch that follows.
That front should be felt most on Thursday, when conditions were expected to turn cloudier and cooler with highs in the upper 60s. The pattern then settles a bit, though it does not go completely dry. Isolated showers were possible on Friday and Saturday, with temperatures near 70 on Friday and in the low to mid 70s on Saturday.
For now, the best reading is straightforward: Columbus gets one more burst of early-season heat before the midweek front knocks temperatures back closer to normal. The warm front lifts out first, then the cold front brings the chance for storms and the cooler air behind it.
