Columbus weather: Temps to climb to 50s after frigid, white Christmas

Monroe Trombly, The Columbus Dispatch
·2 min read
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Pam Steck of Columbus Recreation and Parks shovels a ramp at the Wolfe Park shelter house Tuesday morning in preparation for an event at the facility that evening.
Pam Steck of Columbus Recreation and Parks shovels a ramp at the Wolfe Park shelter house Tuesday morning in preparation for an event at the facility that evening.

Temperatures in and around Columbus are expected to climb gradually this week, culminating in a high of 53 degrees Saturday.

The dramatic warmup comes on the heels of a winter storm that brought snow, high winds and subzero temperatures to central Ohio. Between Dec. 22 and 25, about 4 inches of snow fell in Franklin County. That was the most snow on Christmas morning in Columbus since 1995, the National Weather Service reported.

By 10 a.m. Tuesday, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office had ended a Level 1 snow emergency that had been in place for the previous 44 hours. The sheriff's office previously declared a Level 2 snow emergency early Dec. 23 as temperatures plummeted and roads became covered.

The dramatic transition from 43 degrees on the evening of Dec. 22 to7 degrees below zero on the morning of Dec. 23 marked the fastest 12-hour temperature drop since 1945, the weather service said. And a windchill of 34 degrees below zero marked the seventh-coldest on record since 1945.

The forthcoming warm spell is predicted to be accompanied by clouds and rain, with lots of precipitation over the weekend. On Tuesday, the weather service predicted an 80% of precipitation for Friday night, Saturday and Saturday night, which is New Year's Eve.

This week's forecast, as of Tuesday afternoon:

A vibrant metal sculpture of flowers reminds those who pass by the State Farm agency at 2284 E. Main St. in Bexley that while spring is still months away, warmer weather is forecast later this week, including New Year's Eve.
A vibrant metal sculpture of flowers reminds those who pass by the State Farm agency at 2284 E. Main St. in Bexley that while spring is still months away, warmer weather is forecast later this week, including New Year's Eve.

Wednesday: Mostly cloudy and then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 41.

Thursday: Partly sunny, with a high near 47.

Friday: A chance of showers after 8 a.m., mostly cloudy, with a high near 51. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

New Year's Eve: Showers, with high near 53. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

New Year's Day: Showers likely. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 52. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Monroe Trombly covers breaking and trending news.

mtrombly@dispatch.com

@monroetrombly

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus weather: Temps to climb to 50s by New Year's Eve