Author: FFP Ai Bot

Updated Saturday morning, Oct. 17: The National Weather Service has upgraded the Freeze Watch in this story to a Freeze Warning. This story first ran Friday night when only a watch was in effect.

FOSTORIA — A hard frost is now expected across the region tonight. The National Weather Service office in Cleveland issued a Freeze Warning at 12:39 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, for much of northern Ohio, including Seneca, Hancock, Wood, Sandusky, Wyandot, Lucas, Ottawa and Huron counties.

The warning runs from 1 a.m. to 9 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 18. Forecasters say temperatures could fall as low as 30 degrees.

The weather service warned that frost and freezing temperatures could kill crops and other sensitive plants and could damage outdoor plumbing that is not protected.

To the west, the weather service office for northern Indiana upgraded its watch to a Freeze Warning covering Henry, Putnam, Defiance, Fulton, Williams, Paulding, Van Wert and Allen counties in Ohio. That warning runs from 3 a.m. to 9 a.m. Sunday, with lows as cold as 32 expected.

What the forecast shows

The latest weather service forecast for Fostoria, updated early Saturday, calls for a sunny, chilly day with a high near 54 and north winds gusting to 25 mph. Tonight is expected to be clear, with a low around 32 and widespread frost after midnight.

Findlay, Tiffin and Bowling Green are also forecast to drop to about 32 tonight, while Toledo’s forecast low is around 33, with areas of frost after 2 a.m. Sunday is expected to be sunny with highs in the low 60s once the frost burns off, but the forecast calls for more frost late Sunday night, with lows in the low to mid 30s.

A Freeze Warning means temperatures at or below freezing are expected, a step up from a watch, which means a freeze is possible.

How to get ready

The weather service is urging people to take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold. Potted plants can be brought indoors, and garden beds can be covered with sheets or buckets before sunset. The weather service’s earlier watch also advised wrapping, draining or slowly dripping outdoor pipes. Many homeowners also disconnect garden hoses from outdoor spigots ahead of the first hard frost, and pets should be brought inside on cold nights.

Updated forecasts and any changes to the warning are posted by the National Weather Service Cleveland office and, for Henry and Putnam counties, the National Weather Service Northern Indiana office. Cold-weather safety tips are available on the National Weather Service cold safety page.

#Fostoria #Weather #FreezeWarning #NorthwestOhio

Sources

• National Weather Service Cleveland: Freeze Warning for Lucas, Wood, Ottawa, Sandusky, Hancock, Seneca, Huron, Wyandot and other counties (issued 12:39 a.m. Oct. 17, 2026) – https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.959f4c14a7d9634a9c9d86bb27949e15d7f0cef7.001.2
• National Weather Service Northern Indiana: Freeze Warning for Henry, Putnam, Defiance, Fulton, Williams, Paulding, Van Wert and Allen counties in Ohio (issued 1:34 a.m. Oct. 17, 2026) – https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.1a1122dea573fe8c61731805a6947c875ff72916.002.2
• National Weather Service: Point forecast for Fostoria, Ohio (updated 4:46 a.m. Oct. 17, 2026) – https://api.weather.gov/gridpoints/CLE/26,44/forecast
• National Weather Service Cleveland office – https://www.weather.gov/cle/
• National Weather Service Northern Indiana office – https://www.weather.gov/iwx/
• National Weather Service: Cold weather safety – https://www.weather.gov/safety/cold