Add one more curious chapter to this year’s odd weather — as if record-breaking heat in the dead of winter and snow in May wasn’t strange enough.
With just seven severe thunderstorm warnings issued by the National Weather Service in Cleveland since Jan. 1, Northeast Ohio has had the fewest such warnings over the same time span in 20 years.
To find the next least stormy year — severe thunderstorm-wise — you have to look to 1999 when nine warnings were issued in this part of the state between Jan. 1 and May 31.
The stormiest in 20 years was in 2004 with 137 warnings issued.
The average number of severe thunderstorm warnings issued by the weather service office in Cleveland is 56 a year.
Last year, Northeast Ohio had 40 thunderstorm warnings by this point.
After a slight chance of showers or thunderstorms Thursday night, Friday is expected to be mostly sunny with risks of rain or storms Saturday night into Sunday.
The weekend rain will bring some relief from the heat with high temperatures in the more moderate 70s heading into Monday and Tuesday.
Craig Webb can be reached at cwebb@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3547.