High temperatures won’t get out of the teens during the first week of 2018.
According to the National Weather Service forecast office in Wilmington, with an arctic air mass remaining in place across the region, the warmest predicted temperature will occur on Wednesday when forecasters say the high will reach 18 degrees.
The new year started with temperatures in the single digits on Monday and wind chills dipping below zero across central Ohio. The actual air temperature recorded just after midnight on New Year’s Day at the Delaware Municipal Airport was minus-6 degrees. Breezes out of the west kept the wind chill buried below zero all day on Monday, according to National Weather Service data.
Bitter cold will hang around for the remainder of the week with winds from the west and southwest continuing to drive wind chill factors below zero. The Tuesday forecast from the National Weather Service is calling for sunshine, but a high of just 11 degrees. Southwest winds between 6 and 10 mph will produce wind chills as low as minus-19 degrees during the day.
Low temperatures on Tuesday night will drop to zero with wind chills as low as minus-13 degrees. According to the weather service, winds will continue to come from the southwest, around 8 mph.
The forecast for Wednesday is calling for partly sunny skies with a high of 18 degrees, as stated previously, and winds from the southwest between 8 and 11 mph. The low will dip to 2 degrees on Wednesday night.
Single-digit high temperatures are forecasted for Thursday (9 degrees) and Friday (8 degrees) with some sunshine each day, according to the National Weather Service. Low temperatures each night will drop below zero — minus-5 degrees on Thursday night followed by minus-3 degrees on Friday night.
The weekend opens with mostly sunny skies and a high of 13 degrees with a low of 6 degrees predicted for Saturday. Sunday’s forecast is calling for a 30 percent chance of snow with a high 26 degrees.
High temperatures are expected to be in the 20s throughout the second week of the new year.
