The severe weather threat ended for Northeast Ohio on Sunday after a line of storms moved through the region and the severe thunderstorm watch was canceled early. The worst of the system brought damaging wind gusts, torrential rain and frequent lightning, then moved out before the evening was over.

That mattered immediately in Cuyahoga County, where more than 80,000 people were without power at one point on Sunday. The outage count showed how hard the storms hit even after the watch was called off, and it is the kind of number that turns a passing squall line into a household problem.

By just after 5:30PM, the storm reports were being logged and the weather threat had ended, but the cleanup window was not neat. Rain was still expected to continue for places west of I-71 through the first half of Sunday evening, with spotty showers lingering into the night even as the danger eased.

The weather was expected to settle after 8PM, with temperatures falling into the lower 50s overnight. Monday was expected to turn mostly sunny, with highs near or just above 70 degrees, below the normal high of 80 degrees for this time of year.

There is more weather ahead. Two fronts were expected to affect Northeast Ohio next week, with the first arriving Tuesday night into Wednesday and a stronger second front set for Thursday. That means the early end to the severe thunderstorm watch closed the book on Sunday’s threat, but not on the stretch of unsettled weather still waiting later in the week.

Storms with a tornado watch elsewhere, including Merrillville Indiana under tornado watch until 2 a.m. Friday as storms build and the twin Grand Rapids headlines about six southeast Michigan counties, have been a reminder that severe weather can change fast. For Northeast Ohio, Sunday’s immediate danger was over early, but the power loss and lingering rain made the end of the watch only part of the story.