Weather service cancels freeze watch, issues warning
The National Weather Service dropped its freeze watch for Clark County early Friday after deciding conditions called for a stronger freeze warning instead.
The National Weather Service cancelled a Freeze Watch covering Clark County just after midnight on October 17, saying it had been replaced by a Freeze Warning for the same area NWS. The cancellation notice ran only until 12:34 a.m., a formality closing out the watch as the warning took its place NWS.
Why the watch became a warning
Forecasters had first posted the watch on October 16 at 1:30 p.m., warning that sub-freezing temperatures in the upper 20s to lower 30s were possible overnight into Sunday morning NWS. By 12:18 a.m. on October 17, NWS Wilmington upgraded that outlook to a Freeze Warning covering the same counties, including Clark, and told people to take steps right away to protect tender plants from the cold NWS. The warning was updated several more times as the cold moved through, including an update at 9:02 p.m. on October 17 and another overnight into October 18 NWS +1. By 9:02 a.m. on October 18, the warning's own update said temperatures would keep warming through the rest of the morning, and it expired at 10:15 a.m. that day NWS.
This account comes from alerts issued and cancelled by the National Weather Service office in Wilmington, Ohio, between October 16 and October 18, 2026 NWS +6.
Sources
The source filing
| Event | Freeze Watch |
|---|---|
| Message type | Cancel |
| Severity | Severe |
| Certainty | Observed |
| Urgency | Past |
| Headline | The Freeze Watch has been replaced. Please see the latest information from NWS Wilmington OH on this developing situation. |
| Area desc | Wayne; Fayette; Union; Franklin; Ripley; Dearborn; Ohio; Switzerland; Carroll; Gallatin; Boone; Kenton; Campbell; Owen; Grant; Pendleton; Bracken; Robertson; Mason; Lewis; Hardin; Mercer; Auglaize; Darke; Shelby; Logan; Union; Delaware; Miami; Champaign; Clark; Madison; Franklin; Licking; Preble; Montgomery; Greene; Fayette; Pickaway; Fairfield; Butler; Warren; Clinton; Ross; Hocking; Hamilton; Clermont; Brown; Highland; Adams; Pike; Scioto |
| Effective | October 17, 2026, 12:18 a.m. |
| Expires | October 17, 2026, 12:34 a.m. |
| Sender name | NWS Wilmington OH |
| Instruction | Take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold. |
Published by National Weather Service (api.weather.gov). This is the agency's public filing as The Lantern received it, shown with its fields named in plain English.