Arctic front expected in region next week

Though some areas of Southwest Ohio reached record high temperatures Friday, an arctic front is on the way next week.

Temperatures will stay warmer this weekend as rain falls Saturday night and Sunday, with highs in the 60s Saturday. A few inches of rain are possible, said Chief Meteorologist Jamie Simpson.

Rain is expected to taper off Sunday night, but may end with a little light snow, he said.

Temps fall into the 30s by the end of Sunday and down to 25 degrees on Monday, a large drop within a 36-hour period. The drop may lead to icy roadways if rain has not completely dried by the time the temperatures begin to fall, Simpson said.

“We’ll stay cold and almost completely dry all of next week with one exception. An arctic cold front will arrive Wednesday night or Thursday morning bringing the coldest air so far this season,” he said. “Before it arrives we’ll have highs in the 30s Monday through Wednesday. Behind it on Thursday and Friday there highs in the 20s. “Friday morning may start around 10 degrees,” Simpson said. “When arctic fronts come through almost always we see snow showers, likely Wednesday night,” he said.

MCD storing flood waters

The Miami Conservancy District announced Friday that three dams are storing water from recent snow melting and rainfall.

More rain is expected this weekend, which could cause the Great Miami River to rise further but it won’t be enough to test the flood protection, according to the release.

“Even with the snow melt, the half inch of rain we received in the past 24 hours and the 1.5 to 2.5 inches of rain expected over the weekend, this will likely be a small event with total storage at the dams remaining low,” Mike Ekberg, manager of water resources for MCD, said in a statement.

The three dams storing water are in Germantown, Englewood and Lockington. The last time these three dams were storing water was about a year ago on Jan. 23, 2012.

Germantown Dam: 13.07 feet (storage begins at 12 feet)

Englewood Dam: 13.64 feet (storage begins at 11.5 feet)

Lockington Dam: 13.70 feet (storage begins at 12 feet)

MCD manages five dams and 55 miles of levee along the Great Miami River, from Piqua to Hamilton. The flood protection infrastructure is designed to hold water levels equivalent to the 1913 floodplus 40 percent, according to MCD.

During the Great Flood of 1913, the region received between 9 and 11 inches of rain in three days.

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