Planting SOME flowers, severe storms later today

Darby Creek Nursery was doing their annual Flower Power Happy Hour on Friday, so I went out to buy some hanging baskets. Yesterday I planted these in the ground or bigger porch pots. I love the geraniums because they survive in drier conditions. This is the first year I bought the lantana flowers (bottom yellow and orange). They supposedly are also drought tolerant as well, in case I forget to water them. I planted these in the ground yesterday, despite a few cooler nights ahead. I may need to cover some of them with a sheet if we still have chilly nights and frost possible. 

Today is an ALERT DAY for the potential of severe storms for the afternoon and evening. We are starting off the morning mild with temps in the lower 60s and we will warm to a high around 81 early this afternoon. A few stray showers are possible during the first half of the day then scattered showers will develop this afternoon and strengthen into strong storms. 

All of Ohio has the potential for severe weather with damaging winds being the biggest concern. Large hail is also possible in the strongest cells along with isolated tornadoes. 

There is some uncertainty with the timing because it all depends on when the storms start popping up and how much energy is available. We may get two waves of storms (one early afternoon then another in the early evening), but if the storms delay their initial activation, then one stronger wave would be possible in the late afternoon. The likelihood for strong storms is high, but the confidence in exact timing is not as high. So be sure to have a way of getting alerts if a severe warning is issued for your location this afternoon and evening. It will be a windy day, with winds out of the southwest 15-25+ mph outside of the storms. It will also be a humid day with a little early sun then mostly cloudy skies. The storms race out of here this evening and temps fall quickly down to around 50 by tomorrow morning, thanks to a cold front tonight. 

The chance of rain is lower on Wednesday because we will be between the two waves of disturbances. We will have a 40% chance for some isolated rain for Wednesday. Mix of sun & clouds tomorrow with a high around 70. The chance of rain goes back up to 80% on Thursday with more scattered showers and storms followed by a 70% chance for rain showers on Friday. We warm to a high around 81 on Thursday then a high around 71 on Friday. Some of the rain will linger into early Saturday as well. The weekend will be cooler, with high temps of 61 then 68. Scattered rain showers for Saturday morning look more likely, then decreasing clouds Saturday PM. Sunday will be mostly sunny with a high around 68. Mostly sunny again on Monday as we warm back to 75. Have a good one!

Best,

Andrew Buck Michael