Tag Archives: Columbus Ohio winter weather history

The 2010 President’s Day Snowstorm

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The 2010 President’s Day Snowstorm was the third and largest snowstorm to strike Columbus and Ohio during February, 2010. Models began showing the potential for another snow event in the Ohio Valley several days before. Initially, the track was well south, with only counties along the Ohio River being impacted, as this excerpt from the February 12, 2010 Area Forecast Discussion from Wilmington National Weather Service mentions:
MODEL SOLUTIONS CONTINUE TO DIFFER ON SYSTEM COMING IN SUNDAY NIGHT INTO THE BEGINNING OF THE WORK WEEK. THE GEM IS STILL THE FURTHEST SOUTH WITH THE UPCOMING SYSTEM. THE ECMWF HAS TRENDED NORTH WITH THE LATEST RUN AND IS NOW MORE IN LINE WITH THE GFS. THE ECMWF NOW ACTUALLY HAS THE SURFACE LOW SLIGHTLY FURTHER NORTH THAN THE GFS.
WENT WITH A GFS AND ECMWF BLEND. IT WILL BE COLD ENOUGH THAT PRECIPITATION WILL ALL BE IN THE FORM OF SNOW. MONDAY WILL SEE THE GREATEST CHANCE FOR SNOW WITH LOW TRACKING ACROSS KENTUCKY. ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE…ESPECIALLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE OHIO RIVER.

As the event grew closer, however, model solutions inched northward. On the afternoon of Saturday, February 13th, Wilmington issued the first Winter Storm Watch for parts of Ohio, but the focus continued to be south of Columbus.
URGENT – WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH
222 PM EST SAT FEB 13 2010
…ANOTHER WINTER STORM TO AFFECT THE OHIO VALLEY…
.LOW PRESSURE WILL DEVELOP OVER THE LOWER OHIO VALLEY ON SUNDAY…AND WILL TRACK INTO THE CENTRAL APPALACHIANS BY MONDAY EVENING. AS THE LOW MOVES SOUTH OF THE OHIO RIVER SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY…SNOW WILL OVERSPREAD PARTS OF INDIANA…KENTUCKY AND OHIO. THIS SYSTEM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW ACROSS PARTS OF THE OHIO VALLEY…ESPECIALLY ACROSS AREAS SOUTH OF THE I-70 CORRIDOR.
FRANKLIN IN-RIPLEY-DEARBORN-OHIO-SWITZERLAND-CARROLL-GALLATIN-BOONE-KENTON-CAMPBELL-OWEN-GRANT-PENDLETON-BRACKEN-ROBERTSON-MASON-LEWIS-FAYETTE OH-PICKAWAY-FAIRFIELD-BUTLER-WARREN-CLINTON-ROSS-HOCKING-HAMILTON-CLERMONT-BROWN-HIGHLAND-ADAMS-PIKE-SCIOTO-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…BROOKVILLE…VERSAILLES…LAWRENCEBURG…RISING SUN…VEVAY…CARROLLTON…WARSAW…
BURLINGTON…INDEPENDENCE…ALEXANDRIA…OWENTON…WILLIAMSTOWN…FALMOUTH…BROOKSVILLE…MOUNT OLIVET…MAYSVILLE…VANCEBURG…WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE…CIRCLEVILLE…LANCASTER…HAMILTON…
LEBANON…WILMINGTON…CHILLICOTHE…LOGAN…CINCINNATI…MILFORD…GEORGETOWN…HILLSBORO…WEST UNION…PIKETON…PORTSMOUTH
…WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY EVENING THROUGH LATE MONDAY NIGHT…
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY EVENING THROUGH LATE MONDAY NIGHT.
LIGHT SNOW IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP SUNDAY EVENING…AS A STORM SYSTEM MOVES INTO THE OHIO VALLEY. SNOW WILL INCREASE IN INTENSITY THROUGH EARLY MONDAY…WITH OCCASIONAL SNOW CONTINUING INTO MONDAY EVENING. BY THE TIME SNOW ENDS EARLY TUESDAY…THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR TOTAL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 4 TO 6 INCHES…WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS.
THESE FORECAST SNOW AMOUNTS ARE HIGHLY DEPENDENT ON THE EVENTUAL TRACK OF THE UPCOMING STORM SYSTEM. IF THE SYSTEM MOVES FURTHER NORTH OR SOUTH OF THE CURRENT FORECAST TRACK…THEN SNOWFALL AMOUNTS MAY BE LESS.

While Columbus was not included in the initial Watch, its zone forecast did call for accumulating snow by the 13th.
OHZ054>056-140930-
MADISON-FRANKLIN OH-LICKING-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…LONDON…COLUMBUS…NEWARK
332 PM EST SAT FEB 13 2010
.TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH SCATTERED FLURRIES. LOWS 15 TO 20. WEST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH.
.SUNDAY…PARTLY SUNNY. SCATTERED FLURRIES IN THE MORNING. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 20S. SOUTHWEST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH.
.SUNDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOWS 10 TO 15. WEST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH…BECOMING NORTHWEST AFTER MIDNIGHT. CHANCE OF SNOW 40 PERCENT.
.PRESIDENTS DAY…SNOW. SNOW ACCUMULATION 2 TO 4 INCHES. HIGHS IN THE MID 20S. NORTHEAST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH…BECOMING NORTHWEST IN THE AFTERNOON. CHANCE OF SNOW 80 PERCENT.
.MONDAY NIGHT…CLOUDY. SNOW LIKELY IN THE EVENING…THEN A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT. ADDITIONAL LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATION POSSIBLE. LOWS 15 TO 20. WEST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH. CHANCE OF SNOW 70 PERCENT.
.TUESDAY…CLOUDY WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS. HIGHS IN THE MID 20S.
.TUESDAY NIGHT…CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS. LOWS AROUND 20.

By the morning of the Valentine’s Day, models had moved far enough north with the low track that the I-70 corridor was in line for much higher totals. At 2:43AM that day, the Winter Storm Watch was expanded into Central Ohio, with predictions of 5″-8″. By late morning, the Watch was upgraded to a Warning, and totals were upped slightly to 6″-9″.
OHZ054>056-150930-
MADISON-FRANKLIN OH-LICKING-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…LONDON…COLUMBUS…NEWARK
409 PM EST SUN FEB 14 2010
…WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 4 AM MONDAY TO 6 AM EST TUESDAY…
.TONIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY THIS EVENING…THEN MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT. MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW LATE. LOWS 15 TO 20. SOUTHWEST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH… BECOMING SOUTHEAST AFTER MIDNIGHT. CHANCE OF SNOW 40 PERCENT.
.PRESIDENTS DAY…SNOW. SNOW MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES IN THE AFTERNOON. SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 4 TO 6 INCHES. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 20S. NORTHEAST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH…BECOMING NORTH IN THE AFTERNOON. CHANCE OF SNOW 100 PERCENT.
.MONDAY NIGHT…SNOW…MAINLY IN THE EVENING. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 6 TO 9 INCHES. LOWS AROUND 20. WEST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH. CHANCE OF SNOW 90 PERCENT.
.TUESDAY…CLOUDY. SNOW SHOWERS LIKELY…MAINLY IN THE AFTERNOON. ADDITIONAL LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATION POSSIBLE. HIGHS IN THE MID 20S. WEST WINDS 15 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 30 MPH. CHANCE OF SNOW 60 PERCENT.
.TUESDAY NIGHT…CLOUDY WITH A 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS.LOWS IN THE LOWER 20S. WEST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH.

Snow began in the area by 8:30AM on the 15th and was heavy through mid-afternoon. The bulk of the snow moved out of the area by Midnight, with only occasional wraparound snow showers continuing into the 16th.

The storm generally exceeded forecast snow totals across the region. Columbus received a record 9.7″ for the 15th, with a total storm total of 10.4″, making it one of the very rare storms to produce double-digit snowfall totals for the city. Since 1950, Columbus has had just 6 such events- the Great Thanksgiving Blizzard of 1950, April 3-4, 1987, February 14-17, 2003, March, 2008, President’s Day 2010 and February 4-5, 2014. Double-digit snowfalls have historically occurred roughly once every 12 years. It has been 9 years since the last one, but there have been decades between some of them.

Snowfall totals across Franklin County were 7″-11″, with the highest totals in the southwest. Most of the I-70 corridor south had at least 6″. Snow depths in Columbus reached record highs, with the airport having a post-storm depth of 14″, the highest February depth since at least 1939.

This was the peak event for the month, but not the end of February, 2010’s historically snowy run. A 4th, but far smaller snow event would occur towards the end of the month, bringing a general 3″-5″ across most areas. This would contribute to making the month the all-time snowiest on record for many areas. Columbus’ 30.1″ of snow for the month was the highest on record, and is the 2nd snowiest of any month to ever occur, falling just behind January, 1978’s 34.4″. Cincinnati, Dayton and other cities would also record either their top snowiest or 2nd snowiest February as well. Additionally, Winter 2009-2010 went into the record books at the 5th snowiest of all time. A truly memorable run!

If you are interested in seeing stats from other winters, records of all types can be found on the Winter Season Records page.



The Very Cold Christmas of 1872

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The very cold Christmas of 1872

The very cold Christmas of 1872 began on December 19-20, 1872, when a significant storm system moved northwestward through the Great Lakes. Chicago reported numerous train delays coming from the west, and streets were blocked with drifts in some places. Further east, the storm brought heavy rains to places like Pittsburgh, which saw its river shipping wharfs flooded. Similar to the events of February 1899 and January 1994, this storm seems to have been the catalyst for a major arctic outbreak.

Temperatures began plummeting in the Upper Midwest. By December 21st, reports from Minnesota put temperatures at well below -20, but temperatures were already well below freezing in Ohio. On the 22nd, ice on the Ohio River broke several barges loose from their moorings in Cincinnati and sank them.

Official records of daily weather did not begin in Columbus until the summer of 1878. However, the cold weather did not go unreported. The entire week leading into Christmas was cold, but the arctic air seems to have reached its height on Christmas Eve and Day. Temperatures fell well below zero, with thermometers hitting -10 to -20 across Central Ohio on Christmas Eve.
Temperatures continued below zero on Christmas Day. The Columbus Dispatch, barely a year into its first year of publication, wrote about the cold spell on December 26th.

“A cold spell, a tidal wave, so to speak, has been sweeping all around and over us for the last 48 hours. It was a wave not fully reported by ‘Probabilities’ at Washington, but came through the air, without telegraphic warning, from some frigid region adjacent to the North Pole. This morning we hear of various figures below zero. It is well to shut up the doors, double-bank the windows, pile on the coal, wrap up in furs, and make ready for an Esquimaux winter.
This morning, the wave brought “beautiful snow”, but it did not tarry long enough to settle down to a steady habit and snow us up. The snow breeze passed on. We are pleased that it delayed, no longer. Three such days were enough, even though one of them was Christmas. We will be content if we never see its like again this winter.”

Temperatures were cold across the Great Lakes during the period. In Cleveland, where Lake Erie normally modifies the temperature, it fell to -12 on the 22nd and was -2 on Christmas morning.

After the Christmas Week cold spell, the rest of the winter had several more bouts of severe cold. In some places in the Midwest and Great Lakes, it was one of the coldest winters ever. In Minneapolis, the average temperature over the 3 winter months was just 7.9 degrees, putting it as one of the top 5 coldest winters ever even today.