Forecast: Temperatures fall drastically this weekend, as a strong cold front passes

CLEVELAND - OVERNIGHT UPDATE: Scattered clouds likely overnight. Chances are good we will stay dry until the Friday morning rush hour or after. Current thinking is that cold front and associated showers and thunderstorms will move into the area during the morning hours. Once the front goes by, some sunshine will move in for the afternoon. Temperatures will top out in the 70s for highs. Winds will also begin to pick up during the afternoon. Windy conditions are likely for your Friday night high school football game. Winds out of the west will gust to 30mph. Lows Friday night will drop back into the 50s.

Isolated showers are possible Saturday, especially east of Cleveland. Highs will be very fall-like...in the middle and upper 60s. Winds will continue to gust out the west during the day to 30 mph.

Sunday's weather should be quieter, although not much warmer. Highs under sunny skies will reach to near 70 degrees.

Monday is the ideal day for outdoor activities. Highs in the middle and upper 70s with lots of sunshine. Enjoy a safe Labor Day Weekend!

EVENING UPDATE: An isolated shower near Euclid , Eastlake, Mentor. Rest of area dry.

6pm UPDATE: Cleveland's high temperature today: 93 degrees. Akron & Canton touched 92 degrees. Mansfield's high today was 90. Lorain/Elyria beat 'em all with a high of 95 degrees!

5pm UPDATE: Boaters Forecast - Southwest winds 10 knots or less increasing to 10-20 knots after midnight. Waves 1-3 feet. Water temperature off Cleveland is 74 degrees. 74 degrees off Toledo and 75 degrees off of Ashtabula.

4:45pm UPDATE: Browns Forecast - Clouds thicken through the game. rain should not be a problem until well after midnight. Temperatures starting out in the middle 80s and dropping into the 70s by game's end. Go Browns!

4:30pm UPDATE: Nearest showers currently west of Toledo moving NE. We should stay dry through the evening with temperatures in the 80s.

3:30pm UPDATE: No rain, few clouds, stalled cold front...that translates to our 18th 90+ degree day this season. Currently 91 @ Hopkins Airport; 93 in Downtown Cleveland; 94 degrees in Elyria; 91 degrees in Akron & canton; 90 in Youngstown/Warren.

90 degree days for 2010:
June – 1 day (27th)
July – 11 days (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 15th, 17th, 18th , 21st , 23rd, 24th, 28th )
August – 4 days (14th, 29th, 30th, 31st )
September – 2 days (1st, 2nd )

2010 total: 18 days
Hottest: 95 on July 23th
 

3pm UPDATE: Mark Johnson signing in. Cold front has stalled now across northern Lower Michigan. It will take a low pressure center, currently over the Dakotas, to drag the front thru the region. that will likely happen Friday morning. Because the front stalled, looks like showers and storms will hold off until late tonight. Evening activites out doors look warm and dry with temperatures in the 80s.

12:00 p.m. Update: I removed the isolated chance of showers in the forecast today.  Expect mostly sunny skies, with highs approaching 90 degrees.  This is the last day of heat, before a cold front drops in tomorrow.  Get ready for highs near 70 this weekend! - Christine

11:00 a.m. Tropical Update: Hurricane Earl is still a Category 4 storm, with winds of 140 mph.  It is located 300 miles from Cape Hatteras, moving north.  A Hurricane Warning has been posted for Cape Cod, Massachusetts. 

Tropical Storm Warning is now in effect for Bermuda ahead of Tropical Storm Fiona.  Tropical Storm Gaston has been downgraded to a tropical depression.

9:00 a.m. Tropical Update:  We're watching three storms in the Atlantic: Hurricane Earl, Tropical Storm Fiona, and Tropical Storm Gaston. 

Fiona has winds of 50 mph, and is expected to remain at tropical storm strength over the next three days.  A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Bermuda Saturday, as Fiona is expected to track just west of the island. 

Tropical Storm Gaston has winds of 40 mph and will move very little through Saturday.  Gaston is expected to gain hurricane strength Sunday, following  Hurricane Earl's track closely. 

Now to Earl... A Category 4 storm with winds of 145 mph.  Earl is located 355 miles south of Cape Hatteras, moving north at 18 mph.  It should brush the Outer Banks shortly after midnight with hurricane force winds and battering waves.  A Hurricane Warning is posted for coastal North Carolina to the Virginia border.  A Tropical Storm Warning is posted from the Virginia border to Long Island, New York.  Watches extend to Maine.  You can check out our Hurricane Blog for the official statements from the National Hurricane Center: bit.ly/9w8Ws3

8:00 a.m. Update: Current temperatures are in the low 70s with high clouds in the western sky.  A cold front will increase clouds tonight, and bring a chance of scattered showers to northern Ohio tomorrow.  Cooler weather is still in the cards this weekend.

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A cold front to the west may send an isolated shower or thunderstorm our way today.  However, I expect most of the afternoon to be dry and partly cloudy.

The cold front will pass Friday