A Tornado Warning was in effect Sunday for Portage and Summit Counties until 4:15 p.m., the most immediate sign that Cleveland Weather had turned dangerous in part of Northeast Ohio. The warning came as a broader round of severe weather alerts covered much of the region.
For people watching the forecast, the issue was not just one warning on a map. A Severe Thunderstorm Warning was also in effect for Ashland, Crawford, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Huron, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, Richland, Summit and Wayne counties, while a Severe Thunderstorm Watch covered 24 counties in Ohio until 9 p.m. Sunday.
The storms were expected to keep firing up along a cold front and move from west to east across Northeast Ohio on Sunday afternoon. The main threat was damaging wind gusts, with small hail, torrential rain and frequent lightning also possible. Meteorologists said the tornado threat was very low, but not zero, which is why the warning for Portage and Summit Counties mattered even though the broader setup favored wind over spin.
That warning also pointed to the way severe weather can change quickly inside one storm line. A warning means a tornado has been spotted or indicated by radar, while a watch means conditions are favorable for severe storms. In this case, the watch was expected to be canceled early around 6 p.m. as the line of storms moved into western Pennsylvania and the threat in Northeast Ohio was expected to end around then.
Behind the front, much cooler and more comfortable air was expected to spill into Northeast Ohio Sunday evening, with any chance of rain ending later in the day. Overnight lows were expected to fall into the lower to mid 50s, and Monday was expected to be a cool June day with highs only near or just above 70 degrees, well below the normal high of up to 80 degrees. The region was then expected to turn more seasonable by midweek.
