Get those umbrellas and galoshes ready.
Storms and thunder showers on Friday will replace the sunny skies from earlier this week, forecasters said.
"We have big-time showers up here to our north and big-time storms out here to our northwest," Severe Weather Team 2 Chief meteorologist Glenn Burns said, referring to weather systems that threaten to bring rain and thunderstorms to the metro area. "This is the weather system that wants to come our way."
The good news is that the air-cleansing storms and rain will help to wash away Thursday's 2,722 pollen count.
Forecasters warned that some of Friday's storms could be severe, particularly north of a line from Columbus to Athens. The storms are expected to begin moving into the state from the northwest after midnight, the National Weather Service said.
Burns put the chance of rain Friday at 70 percent. Highs Friday will be in the mid-70s, a few degrees below Thursday's predicted high of 80.
"All (of this) kind of comes moving in toward tomorrow and will be fading away through tomorrow evening and into Saturday," he said.
Burns' weekend forecast is for mostly sunny skies Saturday, with morning lows in the low 50s and afternoon highs in the upper 60s.
There's a 60 percent chance of rain Sunday, along with lows in the upper 40s and highs in the mid-60s.
The pollen count skyrocketed to 2,722 particles per cubic meter of air on Thursday, up from 963 on Wednesday, 214 on Tuesday and just 50 on Monday.
"Some of those storms could produce some locally heavy rainfall, which is going to be great to get rid of some of this pollen," Burns said.
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