MANSFIELD — The official Ohio Severe Weather Awareness Week is March 22-28.
Mother Nature may jump the gun.
The National Weather Service office in Cleveland has issued a hazardous weather outlook for all of north central Ohio, beginning Thursday, including Knox, Richland, Crawford and Ashland counties.
Severe thunderstorms with damaging wind gusts are possible Thursday night through early Friday afternoon. Behind a strong cold front, westerly to northwesterly winds may gust up to 40 mph on Friday.
Rainfall amounts between a tenth and a quarter of an inch are expected Thursday, though amounts may be higher in thunderstorms.
Rainfall of up to a half inch is possible Thursday night.
The area may see another quarter of an inch of rain on Friday with additional thunderstorms and high winds possible.
The unstable weather pattern is expected to continue through Tuesday, weather officials said.
