A cold front will pass through the area late Sunday, allowing somewhat cooler and less humid air to build into the area Monday and Tuesday.

Daytime highs will return to normal levels — in the lower 80s.  Overnight lows will drop into the 50s for a few nights as well.  (August 7th is the only day this month with a low below 60°)

Dew points, which have been in the upper 60s and lower 70s, will finally drop into the mid 50s on Monday.  Once the dew point gets below 60, it feels very comfortable.

The Perseid meteor shower reached its peak Friday night, but it will still be around this weekend.  Unfortunately, some clouds may spoil the viewing.

Looks towards the northeast sky once it gets totally dark (between about 10 pm and 5 am).  It may be difficult (or not possible) to see if you are in an area with a lot of ground lighting (bigger cities, especially — this is called light pollution).

Here is a link to NASA’s full article on the Perseid meteor shower.

The storm near Columbus last week that killed 2 people and injured 4 has been ruled a “microburst”.  A microburst is a localized band of straight line winds.  A fast gush of air gets dropped from a thunderstorm cloud, hits the ground, and then spreads out.  Microbursts can produce damage as bad or worse than a tornado in some cases, and is a huge issue pilots have to occasionally deal with.

Here is a link to the National Weather Service’s full report:

http://kamala.cod.edu/oh/latest.nous41.KILN.html

We mentioned in a post on August 1 about the need for cooling our homes and businesses (the stats based on departure from normal temperatures).

As of today, we are using 55% above normal cooling need use.  This time last year, we were using 27% below normal use.  This year’s cooling needs have already doubled this point last year…and we have a hot and humid week ahead.

EDGERTON, OH (WTOL) - The fire department says strong winds from a thunderstorm caused a 10′ brick wall to collapse, killing a construction worker.   The wall was part of the new school being built in Edgerton. It’s a preschool through eighth grade building that was scheduled to open in the fall of 2011.   Storms passed through Williams County around 11 a.m. The worker was pronounced dead at the scene.

Updates to this story can be found here:

http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=1292366

Severe storms tracked through Indiana between 10-11 am EDT and weakened slightly as they moved into western Ohio.  Radar estimates of winds for the storm near Edgerton showed wind gusts around 50-55 mph.  (Severe thunderstorm warnings are issued when the winds hit or exceed 58 mph).

1:30 pm:  Severe storms exiting south out of Hardin county.  The rest of the tstorm watch should be cancelled after about the next hour.

12:50 PM:  T-storm warnings for Allen/Hardin counties.   Gusty storms elsewhere with heavy downpours.

12:20 PM:  Strong/severe storm now moving through Allen county.  Potential for some wind damage there.  The remaining storms on radar not currently severe.  Just very heay rain with gusty winds…although a few gusts may hit 40-50 mph briefly.  Severe threat will wane over the next few hours.

10:35 AM:  Severe thunderstorm watch until 4 pm for the following counties:  Allen, Crawford, Defiance, Erie, Fulton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Hillsdale, Huron, Lucas, Ottawa, Putnam, Sandusky, Seneca, Williams, Wood, Wyandot

10:15 AM:  The National Weather Service will be issuing a severe thunderstorm watch for NW Ohio.  A line of strong storms is moving through eastern Indiana, and will track across the area between 11 am and 1 pm.

Storms may contain large hail and strong winds.   Heavy downpours will accompany any storm that moves through your area.

We know it has been a hot summer thus far.   We can keep track of the daily highs, but another interesting stat is our need for cooling.  This looks at how high above normal the temperature is, and is a measure of how much we need to cool our homes.

outlook from the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center