Tag Archives: Columbus Ohio winter

Winter 2014-2015 Review

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Winter 2014-2015 Review Columbus, Ohio

The mid-November 2014 cold wave that kickstarted a historic winter.

The Winter 2014-2015 Review details the historic season, with its bouts of extreme cold and heavy snowfall occurring in all months except December.

Temperature and snowfall ranking data goes back to the winter of 1878-1879. Snow depth ranking data goes back to 1940.

December-February Only
Average High: 34.8 19th Coldest
Average Low: 19.3 14th Coldest
Mean: 27.1 15th Coldest
Precipitation: 7.27″ 57th Driest
Snowfall: 23.9″ 33rd Snowiest
Average Daily Snow Depth: 0.9″ 15th Highest
Largest Snowstorm: 6.8″ on February 21st
32 or Below Highs: 36 14th Most
32 or Below Lows: 76 13th Most
Measurable Precipitation Days: 36 12th Fewest
Measurable Snowfall Days: 15 11th Fewest
Deepest Snow Depth: 6″ on February 21st
Days with 1″+ Snow Depth: 30 16th Most

Entire Cold Season: October-April
Average High: 46.6 14th Coldest
Average Low: 29.4 14th Coldest
Mean: 38.0 14th Coldest
Precipitation: 19.51″ 67th Wettest
Snowfall: 33.4″ 28th Snowiest
Average Snow Depth: 0.6″ 7th Lowest
Largest Snowstorm: 6.8″ on February 21st
32 or Below Highs: 43 12th Most
32 or Below Lows: 116 17th Most
Measurable Precipitation Days: 89 16th Most
Measurable Snowfall Days: 22 13th Fewest
Deepest Snow Depth: 6″ on February 21st
Days with 1″+ Snow Depth: 45 8th Most

Average High By Month
October 2014: 63.4 32nd Coldest
November 2014: 45.7 9th Coldest
December 2014: 42.1 33rd Warmest
January 2015: 33.8 32nd Coldest
February 2015: 28.6 5th Coldest
March 2015: 47.6 37th Coldest
April 2015: 63.5 34th Warmest

Average Low By Month
October 2014: 45.4 37th Warmest
November 2014: 30.0 6th Coldest
December 2014: 29.9 19th Warmest
January 2015: 18.1 33rd Coldest
February 2015: 10.0 3rd Coldest
March 2015: 28.1 22nd Coldest
April 2015: 42.9 28th Warmest

Mean By Month
October 2014: 54.4 35th Coldest
November 2014: 37.9 7th Coldest
December 2014: 36.0 27th Warmest
January 2015: 26.0 31st Coldest
February 2015: 19.3 2nd Coldest
March 2015: 37.9 33rd Coldest
April 2015: 53.2 28th Warmest

Precipitation By Month
October 2014: 2.77″ 42nd Wettest
November 2014: 1.46″ 22nd Driest
December 2014: 2.70″ 63rd Driest
January 2015: 2.87″ 51st Wettest
February 2015: 1.70″ 45th Driest
March 2015: 3.92″ 45th Wettest
April 2015: 4.09″ 37th Wettest

Snowfall By Month
October 2014: Trace 2nd Least Snowy
November 2014: 4.1″ 15th Snowiest
December 2014: Trace 2nd Least Snowy
January 2015: 8.4″ 48th Snowiest
February 2015: 15.5″ 8th Snowiest
March 2015: 5.4″ 23rd Snowiest
April 2015: 0.0″ 1st Least Snowy

Average Snow Depth By Month
October 2014: 0″
November 2014: 0.4″
December 2014: 0″
January 2015: 0.8″
February 2015: 3.3″
March 2015: 1.1″
April 2015: 0″



Maximum High By Month
October 2014: 86 on the 2nd
November 2014: 69 on the 11th
December 2014: 61 on the 1st
January 2015: 59 on the 3rd
February 2015: 56 on the 8th
March 2015: 69 on the 16th
April 2015: 79 on the 13th and 18th

Minimum High By Month
October 2014: 49 on the 31st
November 2014: 19 on the 18th
December 2014: 26 on the 31st
January 2015: 13 on the 7th
February 2015: 8 on the 15th and 19th
March 2015: 23 on the 5th and 6th
April 2015: 50 on the 23rd

Minimum High Records
-The 33 on November 14th was a record for the day, beating the old record of 34 set in 1900, 1908, 1911 and 1916.
-The 19 on November 18th tied the record for the day set in 1904.
-The 8 on February 15th was a record for the day, beating the old record of 12 set in 1920.
-The 10 on February 16th was a record for the day, beating the old record of
-The 8 on February 19th was a record for the date, beating the old record of 10 set in 1885.
-The 18 on February 27th tied the record for the date set in 1888 and 1934.
-The 25 on February 28th was a record for the date, beating the old record of 26 set in 1986.

Maximum Low By Month
October 2014: 58 on the 13th and 14th
November 2014: 47 on the 4th
December 2014: 44 on the 23rd
January 2015: 34 on the 18th and 21st
February 2015: 41 on the 8th
March 2015: 43 on the 16th
April 2015: 57 on the 19th

Maximum Low Records
-The 54 on November 30th was a record for the date, beating the old record of 53 set in 1998 and 2006.

Minimum Low By Month
October 2014: 38 on the 4th, 26th and 31st
November 2014: 12 on the 18th
December 2014: 15 on the 15th
January 2015: -6 on the 8th
February 2015: -11 on the 24th
March 2015: 4 on the 6th
April 2015: 28 on the 24th

Minimum Low Records
-The -11 on February 24th was a record for the date, beating the old record of -1 set in 1914.
-The 0 on February 28th was a record for the date, beating the old record of 2 set in 1934.
-The 28 on April 24th tied the record for the date set in 1930.

Highest Daily Precipitation By Month
October 2014: 0.57″ on the 6th
November 2014: 0.39″ on the 17th
December 2014: 0.82″ on the 6th
January 2015: 1.46″ on the 3rd
February 2015: 0.55″ on the 1st
March 2015: 0.63″ on the 14th
April 2015: 0.66″ on the 2nd

Highest Daily Snowfall By Month
October 2014: Trace on the 4th
November 2014: 3.8″ on the 17th
December 2014: Trace on the 10th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th and 31st
January 2015: 3.7″ on the 6th
February 2015: 6.8″ on the 21st
March 2015: 3.6″ on the 1st
April 2015: 0.0″

Snowfall Records
-The 6.8″ on February 21st was a record for the day, beating the old record of 5.8″ set in 1893.
-The 3.6″ on March 1st was a record for the date, beating the old record of 3.5″ set in 1954.

Deepest Snow Depth By Month
October 2014: 0″
November 2014: 3″ on the 18th and 19th
December 2014: 0″
January 2015: 3″ on the 6th, 7th and 9th
February 2015: 6″ on the 21st
March 2015: 6″ on the 1st and 2nd
April 2015: 0″

For more winter records and local weather information, visit the following links.
Winter Season Records
Wilmington National Weather Service



Winter 2013-2014 Review

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Winter 2013-2014 review

For a good portion of the US, the winter of 2013-2014 was one of the worst, if not the worst, in recent memory. Cold and snow hit early in the season and didn’t let up until the first half of March. Now that April is behind us (the last month that snow typically might fall during a season), we can take a look back at the Winter 2013-2014 Review.

A Look Back at Snowfall
For many in Central Ohio, winter provided its first taste on October 23rd, when a cold front briefly changed rain to a wet snow that coated car tops. This was merely a prelude to what would come.

2013-14 Winter Snowfall vs. Normal
Winter 2013-2014 review total snowfall

November Notable Snow Events
November 11-12th, 2013: This was the first real accumulating snowfall of the season, dropping a general 1″-2″ across the area. The highest total in Franklin County was 2″ reported just southeast of Clintonville. A map of the event can be found here.

November 26th-27th, 2013: The months 2nd and larger event occurred towards the end of the month, and dropped 1″-4″ across the county, with the higher totals on the east side of Columbus. A map of the event can be found here.
Winter 2013-2014 review November 2013 snow events
The November total of 4.7″, while not anywhere near record breaking, was a top 20 snowiest, coming in at #14. November 2013 was also the snowiest Columbus had seen since 1972, when 6.3″ fell.

December Notable Snow Events
December 6th, 2013: This was the first major event of the season. A low pressure center brought rain to the area on the 5th. As temperatures cooled, rain gradually changed to freezing rain and then heavy snow, dropping 3″-6″ across the area. A map of this event can be found here.

December 10th, 2013: The second event of the month was a persistent band of snow that set up alon I-71. The cold air produced high ratios, dropping 1″-3″. http://www.erh.noaa.gov/iln/events/20131210/

December 14th, 2013: Rain changed to snow along and north of I-71. http://www.erh.noaa.gov/iln/events/20131214/
Winter 2013-2014 review December 2013 snow events
December’s 12.7″ total was 2 1/2x normal, and the first 10 days of the month were the snowiest on record. It also made the month the 8th snowiest December on record. Further, it was the 2nd consecutive above average December and the 5th since 2007 to be so.

January Notable Snow Events
January 2nd, 2014: The new year started off as snowy as the previous ended, when a low pressure brought occasionally heavy snow and 3″-5″ across the city. http://www.erh.noaa.gov/iln/events/20140102/

January 18th-19th, 2014: A clipper system, Columbus’ most reliable snow producer, brought 1″-2″ across the area. http://www.erh.noaa.gov/iln/events/20140119/

January 25th-26th, 2014: The months’ signature event, a strong storm brough a mixed bag of precipitation, including heavy snow to parts of the city. As the storm passed, additional snow squalls developed into the 26th and brought occasional whiteout conditions. Columbus’ official 2-day total was 8.3″. A map of the event can be found here, though it only lists totals for the 25th:

All told, the 17.7″ of snow for the month was the 16th snowiest on record, and the 8.3″ snow event tied for the 10th largest January event since records began.
Winter 2013-2014 review January 2014 snow events

February Notable Snow Events
February 4th-5th, 2014: A low pressure brought heavy snow and mixed precipitation to the area, and proved to be winter’s largest snow event with 6″-10″ across the city. The 10.6″ at Columbus was the largest storm of the winter, tied as the 3rd largest February snowstorm, and provided the 7th largest daily February snowfall. http://www.erh.noaa.gov/iln/events/20140205/

February 9th, 2014: A weak system brought 1″-3″. http://www.erh.noaa.gov/iln/events/20140209/

February 14th-15th, 2014: Valentines Day brought a storm that skimmed the area with 2″-4″, with much higher totals to the south. http://www.erh.noaa.gov/iln/events/20140215/
Winter 2013-2014 review February 2014 snow events
February’s 15.9″ of snow was the 6th snowiest on record.

March Notable Snow Events
March 2nd-3rd, 2014: A low pressure brought 2-3″ over the city. http://www.erh.noaa.gov/iln/events/20140302/

March 29th, 2014: A storm brought in 1″-2″ in spring’s first week. http://www.erh.noaa.gov/iln/events/20140329/

March did not break any records or have any large events, but it was more or less a capping month to a winter that kept snowing.
Winter 2013-2014 review March 2014 snow events

April saw just one snow event, on the 15th, when half an inch to 1″ fell, ending the snowfall season.

So ultimately, 2013-2014’s 56.4″ of snow ranks it as the 3rd snowiest winter since records began in 1878. It was also the #1 snowiest meteorological winter (December-February) on record. The graph below shows the top 10 snowiest winters. Notice that 4 of the 10 have occurred since 2002, with 3 since 2007. Are we possibly entering a snowier period? That remains to be seen.
W



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