Icy patches are likely to form from melting ice and snow on side streets and parking lots this evening because temperatures will fall quickly to below freezing between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., Storm Center 7 Chief Meteorologist Jamie Simpson said Monday afternoon. (Sign up for weather alerts)

The creation of those icy spots will be enhanced by clear skies and light winds tonight after a day of sun and temperatures in the mid 30s, Simpson said. The good news is that well traveled thoroughfares should be drier than those side streets and parking lots, so icy patches shouldn’t be an issue for vehicles or pedestrians.

On the other hand, afternoons of sunny and above freezing temperatures followed by below freezing temperatures at night are the setup for potholes. And as we all know, potholes are created when water seeps into roadway cracks during daylight hours, then freezes and expands at night to form new cracks and worsen existing cracks.  (5 Day Forecast)

Southwest Ohio and the Miami Valley will see a bit more cloudiness the next two days, and a continued warm up to about 40 on Tuesday and the low to mid 40s on Wednesday, Simpson said.

After Monday night, overnights won’t be as cold.

Look for rain from Thursday afternoon to Friday morning, Simpson said, then the area will dry out later Friday and a good southwest breeze will bring even warmer air.  (Live Doppler 7 Radar)

Highs Thursday will be in the upper 40s, in the mid 50s on Friday and afternoon temperatures Saturday may flirt with 60.

More rain is forecast for Saturday afternoon to continue into Sunday, which won’t be quite as warm. The high will be above 50, but that will begin a trend toward colder weather next week. 

“We’ll melt an inch of liquid slowly over the next few days, add an inch Thursday into Friday in the form of rain, then perhaps another inch [of rain] this weekend,” Simpson said. There won’t be an flooding concerns, but it’ll be muddy.