Ohio
Ohio’s most dangerous spiders in midst of mating season
OHIO (WJW)- In Ohio, all but one species of spider are venomous, but only two are considered dangerous to humans — the Black Widow and the Brown Recluse.
Fortunately, experts say these spiders are relatively uncommon in the Buckeye State, and spider bites (even small, non-concerning ones) are less common than you might think but here are some notes to keep in mind as both are in the midst of mating season — a time to be more cautious.
Brown Recluse
According to a Common Spiders of Ohio field guide, are “quite rare here” and most spiders believed to be a “Brown Recluse,” even by medical or pest control professionals, are misidentified. Experts note, that usually, the only time someone comes across a Brown Recluse is during mating season in June or July, when the males wander in search of females.
Brown Recluses are most likely to be found in warm, dry, and dark places. Outdoors, they might be spotted near rocks or woodpiles. Indoors they may be found in any area that goes undisturbed.
“At dawn, these wandering individuals may take refuge in clothing lying on the floor. When someone picks up the clothing and puts it on, the spider is crushed against the skin and may bite,” reads the field guide.
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Brown Recluse Spider isolated on white background -
Brown Recluse Spider sitting on a white background.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, a Brown Recluse bite often goes unnoticed at first because they are painless. Bite reactions later vary from a mild irritation to a potentially dangerous reaction.
Dr. Christopher Bazzoli, an emergency physician at the Cleveland Clinic, said those bitten often report a “red, white and blue-type of bite” that becomes visible one to three days later followed by a scab.
According to Dr. Bazzoli, the scab should be monitored.
“When those areas of tissue are killed, in their place is a shallow ulcer or an open wound,” said Bazzoli. “In about 10% of cases of more severe brown recluse bites, you’ll need a plastic or general surgeon to basically clean out that ulcer. You may even need a small skin graft to reduce scarring.”
The Cleveland Clinic reports severe symptoms including rash, fever, dizziness, vomiting, and chills. CLICK HERE to learn more.
Black Widow
According to a Common Spiders of Ohio field guide, the infamous ‘Black Widow’ is not nearly as common in Ohio as in southern states, and only female Black Widows pose a bite risk but, a bite can be serious, and anyone bitten should seek medical attention immediately.
Experts report, that Black Widows are not aggressive but can bite defensively, with most bites taking place when someone brushes up against a web.
Black Widow breeding season takes place in late spring and early summer.
“When they’re laying eggs, female black widow spiders can be a little bit more defensive,” said Dr. Bazzoli. “We often see black widow bites on the hands and the ankles — the places where people are reaching into an area.”
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A Black widow rolling up a fresh kill -
A black widow eating a captured roach -
a spider captures food in her web in Aransas National wildlife Refuge
Black Widows prefer warm and dry climates. Outdoors they may be found under rock ledges, woodpiles or in gardening equipment. Indoor experts say they are more likely to hide in cluttered areas such as basements, closets, and attics.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, the venom of a Black Widow attacks the nerve endings in muscles, causing symptoms such as severe, bodywide muscle pain and cramping.
A black widow spider bite causes a sharp pain, followed by numbness. The Cleveland Clinic reports symptoms can include trouble breathing, swollen or droopy eyes, headache, nausea or vomiting, excessive sweating, and fever. CLICK HERE to learn more.
PAULDING, Onio (WANE) – From the coastline along Maine to the Washington State shore, Jesse Ward is riding his bike across America.
The 4,300-mile trip is along the northern part of the United States.
The trip started on May 6 in Bangor, Maine. He hopes to reach his final destination of Anacortes, Washington in early August.
WANE 15 ran into Ward in Paulding, Ohio last week. He was almost back to his hometown of Payne, Ohio to visit family along his quest.
Ward, who now lives in Ashville, North Carolina, got into cycling in college and decided to go for a coast-to-coast trip about five years ago.
“As I was looking at different routes, following the Northern Tier route, I noticed that it actually went through my hometown, so that was pretty appealing, and it’s going through a lot of states I’ve never been to or thought about, so I thought that would be a great way to discover and see the country,” Ward said.
A tradition of cross-country rides is to dip the bike tires in one ocean at the beginning of the journey and dip them in the other ocean at the end. From Bangor, Ward rode to Bar Harbor, Maine to see the ocean before heading west again.
“I’ve never been to the Pacific, so I’ll swim, and I know that they have quite a few ferries that go up to the islands there, so I want to go discover some of that stuff too, but probably take a day off,” he laughed.
His road bike is designed to absorb road vibration and carry heavy loads. It also has 27 gears to help with climbs.
Ward is staying at hotels, AirBnBs and camping along the way.
He pushes through the challenges,
“Rainy days with lots of climbing are the hardest,” he said. “Back in New Hampshire and Vermont, I had about two and a half days of rain, and I had the most climbing during that spell as well.”
And he soaks in the majestic moments along the way.
“Niagara Falls, definitely. I went over to the Canadian side and saw the falls from there, and it was first time I’ve ever done that, so that was a really rewarding experience, like just felt like, you know, the peak of the mountain. It’s like you’re here. This is a really good, finale for that section of the country,” he said.
As of June 12, Ward was about half way finished and in Iowa. When his trip is over, he plans to take a train from Seattle back to Charlotte.
“Then I’ll either bike back home or I have some friends with trucks. They can come pick me up,” Ward laughed.
Multiple days of strong storms target the Midwest
From serious dangers in North Dakota on Tuesday to Illinois on Thursday, this week could cause major weather problems across the north-central section of the country.
The summer weather in Ohio could be hot with a mix of rainy and dry conditions, recent storms have hit the Buckeye State as summer looms. Those storms led to flood warnings in Franklin County after Memorial Day and flooding risk near Cincinnati in June.
Where exactly is all the moisture coming from? What is causing the cloud cover and rainy days? Here’s what we know.
Why is it raining so much in Ohio? The climate is ever-changing
The Earth keeps getting warmer – and it’s bringing precipitation to the Buckeye State.
As the atmosphere gets warmer, evaporation increases, which brings increased humidity, average rainfall,the frequency of heavy rainstorms as well as droughts, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
The agency also states that the average annual precipitation in the Midwest has increased by 5% to 10% over the last half century, rainfall during the four wettest days of the year has increased by 35%, and water flowing in most streams during the worst flood of the year has increased by 20%, according to their data from 2016.
Spring brought repeated storm systems to Ohio, Great Lakes
As the region moved into spring, the Great Lakes have remained a focal point for severe weather stretching from Minnesota to Pennsylvania.
That’s because warm, moisture-rich air lifting north from the Gulf repeatedly collides with lingering cooler air across the northern part of the country, creating a persistent corridor for storm development, said AccuWeather Meteorologist Chad Merrill.
Nearly every week since early March 2026, the Storm Prediction Center has outlined multiple consecutive days of severe weather threats in the Great Lakes, driven by a recurring setup in which the jet stream positions the region along a storm track where unstable air and Gulf moisture overlap. Combined, those conditions allow storms to organize quickly and intensify as they move across the region.
“I think we’ve seen it before, but not this time of the year,” Pastelok said of the early spring storms. “Keep in mind. The Gulf hasn’t even been opened up … That’s what’s unusual for this time of year.”
Why severe weather has targeted the Great Lakes
The active weather patterns across the Great Lakes and central U.S. earlier this year was not driven by a single anomaly, but by a series of large-scale atmospheric factors that repeatedly aligned and reset in similar positions.
At the center of that setup is the jet stream – the fast-moving river of air that steers storm systems across North America. When it becomes more amplified, dipping sharply south in some areas and bulging north in others, storm systems can slow and repeatedly track along the same corridors rather than spreading more evenly across the country.
Another key ingredient is the status of El Niño-Southern Oscillation conditions, Pastelok said. ENSO happens when the temperatures of the Pacific Ocean are transitioning from La Niña, which brings cooler sea surface temperatures, to El Niño, which brings cooler ocean temperatures. Both can influence atmospheric weather across the U.S., according to NOAA.
“What was different is that we’re seeing El Niño coming on a little faster,” Pastelok said. “The La Niña weakened very, very fast, and so the overall positioning of the jet stream may tend to be farther north than it usually is for this time of the year.”
Cincinnati Children’s is expanding its access to care across the region, including in Northern Kentucky.
The health system reported in its latest Community Impact Report, released to the public June 9, that six new locations opened in 2025, including facilities in previously underserved communities such as Clermont and Clinton counties. Rural areas often have limited access to specialized and emergency care, placing residents at a higher risk of health challenges and death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here are the new locations:
- Brandon and Kelly Janszen Union Building, 2015 Children’s Way, Union, Kentucky.
- Crestview Hills Urgent Care, 2765 Chapel Place, Crestview Hills, Kentucky.
- Children’s Eastgate, 4315 Ivy Pointe Blvd., Union Township, Ohio.
- Loveland Primary Care, 10554 Loveland-Madeira Road, Loveland, Ohio.
- Wilmington Primary Care, 1150 W. Locust St., Suite 500, Wilmington, Ohio.
- New Richmond School-Based Health Center, 1135 Bethel-New Richmond Road, New Richmond, Ohio.
Cincinnati Children’s is one of the top-ranked children’s hospitals in the Midwest. The medical professionals at the system’s more than 50 sites provided care in 1.75 million encounters with patients during the July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025 fiscal year, spokesman Barrett Brunsman said.
Some locations are first of their kind
In Boone County, the Brandon and Kelly Janszen building opened at the hospital’s Union location in April 2025, becoming the first in Northern Kentucky to offer both primary and specialty care, including offering behavioral health counselors, lab services, X-ray and ultrasound.
In Kenton County, the hospital opened its first urgent care in Northern Kentucky in July 2025 as part of renovations at the Crestview Hills location, offering residents access to pediatric providers on evenings and weekends.
In Ohio, the Eastgate location opened in October, combining specialty clinics, outpatient surgery and an urgent care center in “the first of its kind on the East Side for Cincinnati Children’s,” where some main campus surgeons and providers now see patients, Brunsman said.
Two primary care centers also opened in 2025: Wilmington, the only primary care in Clinton County dedicated exclusively to children from newborns through teens; and Loveland, which offers closer care to families who once drove farther.
Cincinnati Children’s also introduced the New Richmond School-Based Health Center in September 2025, after reporting over 7,000 patient encounters in 2023 from the village’s ZIP code, including 2,375 without an identified primary care provider, Brunsman said. The new health center is within walking distance for 1,000 middle and high school students, and is open to their families and other children in the community.
The school-based center was funded by a grant from Ohio’s Appalachian Community Innovation Centers program, obtained by New Richmond Schools. Across the other five new locations, Cincinnati Children’s invested around $141 million in renovations, design and acreage, the hospital noted.
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