Climate Summary
Overall, drought improvement across Ohio has been slow the last several weeks. Two to four inches of precipitation has fallen over the bulk of the state, with more than 8 inches in parts of northeast Ohio (Figure 1). This included the season’s first widespread snowfall on November 10. However, most of northwest, southern, and eastern Ohio has experienced well below average precipitation (Figure 1). Thus, the latest U.S. Drought Monitor Report shows approximately 8% of the state is still in D3-extreme drought conditions. Soil mositure is still severely lacking despite improvements right at the surface, and gages in the Maumee River basin have once again fallen below 10% of normal flow. Many ponds and reservoirs across the region are significanly below normal levels. Please consider submitting your observations to the National Drought Mitigation Center’s Condition Monitoring Observer Reports platform. For the latest drought conditions and agricultural resources, please visit our Drought Conditions and Resources page or the State Climate Office of Ohio.
Weather Forecast
We began the week (November 17) with high pressure that was slowly giving way to our next weather maker Tuesday morning. Rain and/or a mix of rain and snow showers will begin early on Tuesday with rain showers throughout the day. Highs will top out in the 40s. Wednesday will be cloudy, breezy, and cool with high temperatures in the upper 40s to mid-50s. There could be a stray shower across southern Ohio on Wednesday as well. Additional periods of rain will move in on Thursday and continue through Friday. Some of this rain may be heavy at times acrosssouthern Ohio. Temperatures will warm slightly into the mid-50s to low 60s for Thursday and Friday before sliding back into the 50s behind the system over the weekend. The National Weather Service is currenly forecasting 1.5-3 inches of rain across southern Ohio over the next seven days, with amounts tapering to 0.25-0.5 inches across northern Ohio (Figure 2).
The 8-14 day outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for the period of November 25 – December 1, 2025 and the 16-Day Rainfall Outlook from NOAA/NWS/Ohio River Forecast Center show above normal temperatures and precipitation are probable (Figure 3). Climatology for this period indicates a normal high-temperature range of 48 - 53°F, a low-temperature range of 31-34°F, and weekly total precipitation of ~0.75 inches.
