Tag Archives: Columbus Ohio winter weather

The Blizzard of 1996

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The first two weeks of January 1996 proved to be a very wintry period, culminating in the severe Blizzard of 1996. Although this storm was made famous for its effects on the Eastern Seaboard, it also had a significant impact on areas to the west of the Appalachians, and was one of the worst winter storms the state had seen in nearly 20 years.

This storm developed in the Gulf of Mexico on January 6th and moved up along the East Coast through the 7th. Forecasts for Ohio were not especially indicative of an impending major storm. A weak low pressure moving through the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys was supposed to die out as the main storm on the Coast took over. Therefore, Ohio was not forecast to be hit especially hard from this storm, as the Area Forecast Discussion goes into on the after of January 5th.
FORECAST COORDINATION MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH
243 PM EST FRI JAN 5 1996
AGAIN HVG TRBL GETTING GRIDDED DATA. CLDY SKIES WILL KEEP TEMPS FROM PLUMMETING AGAIN OVRNITE. SCT SW– AFT 00Z AS S/W APPCHS FROM
WEST…SEEMS TO BE RIGHT OUT AHD OF NOSE OF S/W. THEN FOR SAT…
SFC TROF SETS UP ON WEST SIDE OF APALACHIANS…WAITING FOR STRONG VORT TO SWING AROUND BASE OF 500 TROF. AFT COORD W/ CLE WILL FOLLOW ETA…WHICH BRINGS MOIST AND RAIN BIT FARTHER NORTH. SFC LO FAR SOUTH…WITH 500 /700 LO TRACKING CLOSE TO OUR REGION. RH FIELD SHWS NRN EDGE OF 90% MVNG OVR NRN KY/SRN OH ON DURING THE DAY SAT. MOIST HOLDS THRU SUN W/ 700/850 LO/S TRACKING SOUTH OF THE REGION. ETA QPF SHWG ABT .10 TO .25 INCH ACROSS SRN PART OF REGION…AFT COORD W/ CLE/IND/SDF ALL THINKING ABT SAME. NRN KY 4-5″ TOTAL THRU SUN…SRN OH 2-4″ AND 2-3″ SE INDIANA. FROM DAY TO CMH NORTH AROUND AN INCH OR LESS. IND HAS SNOW ENDING LATE SAT NITE…W/ ENZDING SPREADING EAST ON SUNDAY.

As the highlighted section shows, the Wilmington office was thinking 1″ or less for the I-70 corridor and points north, including Columbus, with only 2″-4″ in far Southern Ohio.
The first weather advisories for the storm went up at 5:20AM on Saturday, January 6th. For Ohio, this only included a Winter Storm Watch for far Southeast and far South-Central parts of the state, where 4″-6″ were predicted. No advisories were issued for the Columbus area until 4:10PM on the 6th.

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH
410 PM EST SAT JAN 6 1996
…WINTER STORM WARNING FOR TONIGHT AND SUNDAY FOR SOUTHERN OHIO AND NORTHERN KENTUCKY…
…SNOW ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT FOR EXTREME SOUTHEAST INDIANA FOR
TONIGHT AND FOR THE DAYTON AND COLUMBUS AREAS FOR TONIGHT AND
SUNDAY…
TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS BY SUNDAY MORNING WILL BE IN THE 8 TO 12 INCH RANGE OVER NORTHEAST KENTUCKY…4 TO 8 INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED ACROSS THE PORTSMOUTH AREA AND ALONG THE OHIO RIVER TO COVINGTON AND DRY RIDGE.
VERSAILLES…CINCINNATI…HILLSBORO AND CHILLICOTHE SHOULD SEE 3 TO 5
INCHES TOTAL ACCUMULATION. ACROSS RICHMOND…DAYTON…LONDON AND
COLUMBUS 1 TO 3 INCHES ARE EXPECTED.
AN INTENSE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE NORTHEAST THROUGH THE
APPALACHIANS TODAY. PLENTY OF MOISTURE WILL BE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS LOW AND WILL RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OVER SOUTHERN OHIO…SOUTHEAST INDIANA AND NORTHERN KENTUCKY.
SNOW WILL FALL THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING. EXPECT ROAD CONDITIONS TO
DETERIORATE THIS EVENING. DRIVING CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN HAZARDOUS OVERNIGHT WHEN HEAVIER SNOW BEGINS. VISIBILITIES WILL BE REDUCED TO NEAR ZERO BECAUSE OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW.

The Snow Advisory was only for 1″-3″ for Columbus even as the storm approached from the south. Later forecast updates at 5:55PM and 9:35PM on the 6th, and 12:35AM on the 7th still called for 1″-3″ for Columbus. Snowfall would begin in Columbus around 8PM on the 6th.

I have very vivid memories of seeing the afternoon and evening news on the 6th and being disappointed that the forecasts called for the storm to pass us well to the south and east. However, by the morning of the 7th, it was clear that the forecast had gone very wrong. Heavy snow and strong winds affected mainly the southern 2/3rds of the state, and the I-70 corridor was already reporting 3″-5″ by 6AM. By 11AM, Columbus had 4″-7″. Curiously, Wilmington wouldn’t add the I-70 corridor to a Winter Storm Warning until that time, after more than half of the snow had already fallen.

Blizzard conditions, however, raged across central, west-central and northwestern sections of the state, where winds gusted over 55mph in places. Blowing and drifting snowfall piled drifts several feet deep, and travel across the state was made impassible, particularly on country roads. For many, this was one of the greatest January snowstorms ever, and in some cases, the worst storm since the Great Blizzard of 1978. 8-10″ was common in the southern 2/3rds of the state, but there was as much as 15″ in parts of the Ohio River communities, as well as areas in west-central Ohio.

Some snowfall totals around Ohio:
Cincinnati: 14.4″
Circleville: 9.0″
Columbus: 9.8″
Dayton: 8.0″
Delaware: 7.0″
Mansfield: 8.0″
Westerville: 8.0″
Zanesville: 7.9″

So why had the forecast gone so wrong? The weak low pressure that was supposed to die off as the larger system wound up along the East Coast did not die out as expected. Instead, it moved into the lower Ohio Valley and essentially stalled as it slowly spun itself down. This low helped suck moisture over the mountains and into Ohio. Temperatures were cold enough for this moisture to fall as all snow, and a tight gradient brought with it strong winds. The result was a paralyzing winter storm and one of the all-time forecast busts.



The 1901 Mega Cold Front

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1901 mega cold front

The 1901 mega cold front was a massive wake-up call after a relatively tranquil, if not cool, fall. Temperatures through November and early December 1901 had been persistently below normal. 24 days in November had been below normal, and but for a few days very early in December, this pattern continued. However, beginning on December 11th, temperatures began to rise ahead of an approaching weather system. By the 13th, temperatures reached record highs in Columbus when they spiked at 65 degrees. The following day started equally warm with a record high of 65. However, a change was coming.

To the northwest of Ohio, temperatures were plunging rapidly as a deep, cold high pressure system was being pulled south. Dispatch headlines warned of the record-breaking cold.

A powerful cold front would move through late on the 14th, and temperatures began to plummet. By midnight, the temperature had dropped all the way down to just 14 degrees, a single day drop of 51 degrees! A driving rain accompanied the frontal passage, but quickly changed over to heavy snow that accumulated 3″-5″ across the area.

On the 15th, the temperature continued to fall, albeit more slowly, and by midnight the reading was -4. This mega-cold front had produced a 69-degree total drop in Columbus, which made it one of the strongest cold fronts ever to move through the Ohio region.

The weather map on December 14, 1901, as the front began pushing through Ohio.

The front would bring a major pattern change. Every day from the 15th-21st featured highs in the teens, which set many daily low maximum records, some of which still stand more than 100 years later.

The winter of 1901-02 was generally cold and snowy in the Ohio Valley, but no future front that winter would come close to December 14-15th of 1901.

To view more local and current weather, visit: Wilmington National Weather Service
And for more historic December records, check out: December Weather Records



The February 9-10, 2010 Snowstorm

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February 2010’s second snowstorm came just 3 days after the month’s first major event. This second low pressure system tracked from Louisville, Kentucky and then up along I-71 to Cleveland. Even though the track was through the heart of the state, the majority of the precipitation in most areas was snowfall. This storm followed so closely on the heels of the February 5th storm that the cold air that first storm had pulled into Ohio was still in place on the 9th. This allowed for snow despite the far north track. While the February 9-10, 2010 snowstorm wasn’t the largest of the month, it helped establish it as one of the snowiest winter months in history.

Snow began in Columbus in the early morning hours of the 9th and continued into the 10th. Snowfall rates reached their peak in the late morning hours of the 9th, falling at 1/2″ per hour at times, but never quite reached the intensities of Storm #1. While some parts of the state had 7-8″, the Columbus area had 5-6″, about half of what it got in Storm #1. Still, cleanup from the first storm was still ongoing, and this latest snowfall severely complicated the process. Traffic and airport delays were common, and many schools were cancelled. Snow depths in Franklin County reached 10-16″ after the storm.
the February 9-10, 2010 snowstorm Columbus, Ohio

Use the Weather History archive to further your search through local weather history, and the Wilmington National Weather Service for the current status of weather in the area.



The February 5-6, 2010 Snowstorm

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The winter of 2009-2010 will go down as one of the best ever (if you like winter, that is). The biggest reason for that is February 2010 and its cascade of significant winter storms that placed the month as one of the snowiest of all time. The February 5-6, 2010 snowstorm event was one of the capping events of the month and winter as a whole.

The first event started in the morning on February 5th. Forecasts in the days leading up to this event were mixed. Models were showing a lot of precipitation, but also a strong push of upper-level warm air into Ohio. How far north this warm layer reached was the point of contention. In most years, the WTOD, or the “Warm Tongue of Death” as some Ohio weather enthusiasts like to refer to it, is a constant threat each and every winter. When a storm is moving north or northeast south of the state, they tend to pull warm air north, and the Appalachian Mountains act like a funnel directing this warm air straight into Ohio. During winter events, it presents itself as a layer of warm air above the surface, often turning snow to ice, sleet or just plain rain, even if the surface itself is relatively cold. It’s a constant source of frustration for winter weather lovers. It was this phenomenon that was predicted to strike again and the dividing line, as it so often is, was predicted to be along I-70/I-71. North of there, mostly or all snow was predicted, while south was more mix, ice and rain. The I-70 corridor, including Columbus, was to be the northern extent of this mixing, limiting snowfall accumulations. Still, even with the mix predicted, a solid 4″-6″ was predicted, which is a decent event by itself and typically the largest snow event of any given winter.

Precipitation began as snow across southern counties by dawn and spread north, reaching the Columbus area between 9AM and 9:30AM. It started out as flurries, but the flakes were already fairly large. Within 15 minutes, the flurries had turned to very heavy, wet snow. Flakes were as large as quarters at times and stayed large, accumulating quickly despite the above freezing temperatures. Visibility quickly dropped to a half mile or less at times, and traffic quickly snarled with accidents as plows could not keep up with the pace of the inch-per-hour snowfall rates. Between 4PM and 5PM, there was a respite as snowfall lightened and there was a mix of sleet and ice pellets, but all snow resumed once heavier precipitation moved in, concluding the only and very short period of mixing I-70 had. Snow continued through the night of the 5th and into the 6th, finally ending before noon.

Snowfall totals were impressive, especially along and north of I-70, where little mixing took place, but also in pockets to the southeast of Columbus, like Lancaster. For Columbus, the 9.9″ that fell was good enough to be a top 15 largest snowstorm for the city. It would not, however, be the largest snowfall of the month.

Some snow totals across Ohio from February 5-6, 2010
Greenville: 14.8″
Lancaster: 13.0″
Akron: 12.1″
Bellefontaine: 12.0″
Urbana: 12.0″
Westerville: 11.4″
Dayton: 11.1″
Springfield: 11.0″
Columbus: 9.9″
Youngstown: 8.4″
Delaware: 8.0″
Cleveland: 5.9″
Cincinnati: 4.5″
Circleville: 3.0″
Toledo: 3.0″

The February 5-6, 2010 snowstorm Columbus, Ohio

Snow totals for the NWS Wilmington area.

This event was the only the beginning of what would be a trio of consecutive snowstorms that would strike the area over the course of 11 days, including the February 9-10, 2010 Snowstorm, which occurred just a few days later.

The Wilmington National Weather Service, meanwhile, is a great source if you want to know the current weather in the area.



Ohio’s Greatest Arctic Outbreak

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Ohio's Greatest Arctic Outbreak

The fall of 1993 had been largely uneventful and a bit warm after the Halloween Snowstorm. November had been quiet and the first 20 days of December averaged almost 6 degrees above normal with just a trace of snowfall. Temperatures gradually cooled through the 3rd week of the month and then went below normal by the 23rd with highs generally from the upper teens to mid-20s. Along with the colder pattern came persistent snowshowers that lasted the rest of the month, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. January was about to change that.

Two snowstorms struck the state in January, the first on January 3-4 and the second, larger event on the 16th and 17th. It was this storm that pulled in a vast reservoir of arctic air into the Ohio region. A very cold high pressure area had been parked just north of the US-Canada border beginning on the 14th, bringing highs in the single digits on the 15th and lows below zero from the 14th on.

WINTER PLUNGING CITY INTO FIRST DEEP FREEZE
Columbus Dispatch, The (OH) – January 14, 1994

Columbus will begin to slide into the deep freeze today with temperatures plunging below zero tonight and Saturday night. The wind chill will average 30 below zero during the cold spell.
The weather will be the coldest of this winter thus far – and the first time Columbus temperatures have fallen below zero since last Feb. 18 when it dipped to minus 2.
The cold spell won’t linger.

“We will start to notice a rebound in temperature, maybe not on Sunday but certainly on Monday,” said Ken Reeves, senior meteorologist for Accu-Weather.

The Accu-Weather forecast calls for temperatures in the midteens at 7 a.m. today and falling to the single digits by day’s end. The overnight low will be minus 5. Saturday’s daytime high will be about 4.
Saturday night the temperature will fall to minus 8, recovering to 15 above Sunday. The low Sunday night will be 11 above. Temperatures should be in the 20s by Monday.
The cause of the cold is a shift in the jetstream, which normally brings air from southern Canada. The shift will bring colder arctic air from northern Canada, which will plunge the Northern Plains, the Midwest and the Northeast into very cold weather. Minnesota and the eastern sections of North Dakota and South Dakota will have temperatures of 20 to 30 below zero Saturday.
Residents will need to dress warmly under the sudden surge of cold air here. Those with poor circulation, particularly the elderly, should be especially careful.
Layers of clothing provide the best protection because layers trap air, which serves as insulation.

“The more layers, the better,” said Reeves.

He said mittens are preferable to gloves, which isolate the fingers. Care should be taken not to cramp the toes by wearing two thick pairs of socks. Cramping can restrict circulation, which is needed to warm extremities.

“If you wear two pairs, don’t wear two thick pairs,” said Reeves. “The key is, you don’t want to slow the circulation. The blood supply is what keeps your hands and feet warm.”

Noses should be covered, and parents should make sure their children are properly dressed, he said.
Faucets should be left dripping in poorly insulated houses and homes where pipes are subject to cold-weather freezing.
Typically, extreme cold weather sends more people into shelters for the homeless. “It brings in the people who would normally try and rough it, the people who don’t like the shelter,” said Charles Oris, director of men’s services for Faith Mission.
Oris expected no problems providing shelter during the weekend for more homeless people. The mission can provide extra sleeping areas and has an overflow facility at the downtown YMCA at Long and Front streets.

As you can see, there was no mention of the snowstorm that would begin just a few days later. The following day, Saturday, January 15, 1994, the paper did mention the upcoming snowfall, but only 2-4″ were forecast.

By the early morning of Sunday, January 16th, Wilmington issued a Winter Storm Watch for Sunday Night into Monday. This was the first indication the storm would be much more significant.

COLUMBUS AND VICINITY FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBUS OH
406 AM EST SUN JAN 16 1994
…WINTER STORM WATCH TONIGHT AND MONDAY…
.SUNDAY…PARTLY SUNNY EARLY…THEN BECOMING CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW BY LATE AFTERNOON. HIGH NEAR 20. MAINLY SOUTH WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH. CHANCE OF SNOW 40 PERCENT.
.TONIGHT…SNOW…POSSIBLY HEAVY AT TIMES. SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS
LIKELY. TEMPERATURES NEARLY STEADY IN THE UPPER TEENS EARLY…THEN RISING INTO THE MIDDLE 20S BY DAYBREAK. SOUTH WINDS 10 TO 20 MPH. CHANCE OF SNOW 100 PERCENT.
.MONDAY…SNOW…POSSIBLY HEAVY IN THE MORNING…DIMINISHING TO FLURRIES IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGH IN THE MIDDLE 20S. CHANCE OF SNOW 80 PERCENT.

At the time, official forecasts did not go much past 3-5 days. By Sunday afternoon, the Watch had changed to a Heavy Snow Warning, a type of advisory that is no longer in use.



COLUMBUS AND VICINITY FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBUS OH
337 PM EST SUN JAN 16 1994
…HEAVY SNOW WARNING FOR TONIGHT AND MONDAY…
TONIGHT…SNOW…HEAVY AT TIMES. SNOW ACCUMULATING 2 TO 4 INCHES.
TEMPERATURE RISING INTO THE MIDDLE 20S BY DAYBREAK. SOUTH WINDS 10
TO 15 MPH. CHANCE OF SNOW NEAR 100 PERCENT.
.MONDAY…SNOW…HEAVY AT TIMES…TAPERING TO FLURRIES IN THE
AFTERNOON. ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATIONS EXPECTED. HIGH IN THE UPPER 20S. SOUTH WINDS 10 TO 20 MPH BECOMING WEST. CHANCE OF SNOW NEAR 100 PERCENT.
.MONDAY NIGHT…VARIABLE CLOUDINESS WITH A CHANCE OF FLURRIES. BITTERLY COLD WITH A LOW AROUND ZERO. CHANCE OF SNOW 40 PERCENT.
.TUESDAY…VARIABLE CLOUDINESS WITH A CHANCE OF FLURRIES. BITTERLY COLD WITH A HIGH OF ZERO TO 5 ABOVE. CHANCE OF SNOW 40 PERCENT.

Aside from the storm itself- which was now forecast to drop 4″-8″- the public was alerted to the extreme cold coming on the backside.

The storm itself was significant and larger than expected for many areas. By the end of the day on the 17th, 7.8″ had fallen at Port Columbus. Almost all of the state had at least 6″ from the storm, but 20″-30″ fell to the south and east of Columbus. During the height of the storm, Chillicothe reported a snowfall rate exceeding 5″ per hour! As this storm moved away, it pulled cold air directly south, which failed to warm over the fresh snowpack.

Temperatures in Columbus fell to 0 by midnight on the 17th and continued to drop throughout the next day. The Noon temperature on the 18th was -9 degrees, -13 by 7pm and -17 by midnight. The peak of the cold was reached at 6am on Wednesday, January 19th when the temperature at Port Columbus dropped to 22 degrees below zero. This temperature was the lowest official temperature ever recorded in the city, beating out the 3 times that the city recorded -20 (1879, 1884, 1899).

Across the state, temperatures were 20-35 degrees below zero, and these extremely low readings were more widespread than in any other previous arctic outbreak on record, securing its place in history as the worst arctic outbreak of all time for Ohio.

Some of the State’s Coldest Low Temperatures for January 18-19, 1994
Logan: -37
New Lexington: -35
Eaton: -33
Chillicothe: -29
Delaware: -28
Bellefontaine: -27
Westerville: -27
Akron: -25
Dayton: -25
Marysville: -25
Cincinnati: -24
Newark: -24
Wilmington: -24
Circleville: -22
Columbus: -22
Youngstown: -22
Cleveland: -20

The https://www.dispatch.com/article/20120119/BLOGS/301199667″>Columbus Dispatch provides a greater look back.
You can peruse through all the winter information you could ever want on the Weather History links page.