Winter 2022-2023 Review




Winter 2022-2023 Review

A scene largely absent from the 2022-2023 winter.

The Winter 2022-2023 Review shows that the season was one of the warmest ever recorded for Columbus, with near consistent above average- and sometimes record-breaking temperatures. Snow, as a consequence, was well below average.

The rankings below are good through the 2022-2023 season.

December-February Only
Average High: 45.8 4th Warmest
Average Low: 29.4 7th Warmest
Mean: 37.6 5th Warmest
Precipitation: 7.80″ 62nd Wettest
Snowfall: 11.2″ 30th Least Snowy
Average Daily Snow Depth: 0.3″ Tied for 4th Lowest
Largest Snowstorm: 4.9″ on 12/23/2022
# of 32 or Below Highs: 10 5th Fewest
# of 32 or Below Lows: 51 Tied for 4th Fewest
# of Measurable Precipitation Days: 40 Tied for 13th Most
# of Measurable Snowfall Days: 10 Tied for 6th Fewest
Highest Average Daily Wind Speed in MPH: 23.3 on 12/23/2022
Highest Wind Gust in MPH: 54 on 1/19/2023
# of Clear Days: 6 6.67%
# of Partly Cloudy Days: 38 42.22%
# of Cloudy Days: 46 51.11%

Early winter ended up being the coldest and snowiest part of the season, with every subsequent month getting warmer. There were very few freezing days during the heart of the winter, and despite a somewhat stormy pattern with seemingly endless windy days, there was relatively little precipitation.

The biggest snowstorm was on December 23rd, when a very strong low pressure system and cold front brought heavy snow and very cold temperatures, making for one of the coldest Christmas Eves and Days in many years.

Entire Cold Season: October-April
Average High: 53.8 3rd Warmest
Average Low: 34.5 Tied for 14th Warmest
Mean: 44.1 Tied for 6th Warmest
Precipitation: 19.13″ 63rd Driest
Snowfall: 14.5″ Tied for 21st Least Snowy
Average Snow Depth: 0.1″ Tied for 2nd Lowest
Largest Snowstorm: 4.9″ on 12/23/2022
# of 32 or Below Highs: 11 Tied for 2nd Fewest
# of 32 or Below Lows: 83 6th Fewest
# of Measurable Precipitation Days: 79 Tied for 14th Fewest
# of Measurable Snowfall Days: 15 Tied for 6th Fewest
Highest Average Daily Wind Speed in MPH: 23.3 on 12/23/2022
Highest Wind Gust in MPH: 59 on 3/3/2023
# of Clear Days: 30 14.15%
# of Partly Cloudy Days: 95 44.81%
# of Cloudy Days: 87 41.04%

The entire cold season didn’t really live up to its name. All months except October ended up above normal. Now let’s break down those months individually.

Average High By Month
October 2022: 65.6 44th Warmest
November 2022: 54.6 Tied for 19th Warmest
December 2022: 41.8 Tied for 36th Warmest
January 2023: 43.8 13th Warmest
February 2023: 52.3 1st Warmest
March 2023: 52.6 33rd Warmest
April 2023: 65.7 20th Warmest

February, 2023 had the warmest average high mean on record, beating the next closest year- 2017- by 0.5 degrees.

Average Low By Month
October 2022: 42.7 Tied for 28th Coldest
November 2022: 36.0 29th Warmest
December 2022: 27.4 Tied for 40th Warmest
January 2023: 31.0 6th Warmest
February 2023: 30.0 10th Warmest
March 2023: 32.1 Tied for 45th Warmest
April 2023: 42.0 Tied for 35th Warmest

Mean By Month
October 2022: 54.1 Tied for 33rd Coldest
November 2022: 45.3 Tied for 18th Warmest
December 2022: 34.6 Tied for 37th Warmest
January 2023: 37.4 10th Warmest
February 2023: 41.1 3rd Warmest
March 2023: 42.4 Tied for 40th Warmest
April 2023: 53.9 Tied for 23rd Warmest

Precipitation By Month
October 2022: 0.60″ 11th Driest
November 2022: 2.34″ 58th Driest
December 2022: 2.02″ 39th Driest
January 2023: 4.16″ 28th Wettest
February 2023: 1.62″ Tied for 41st Driest
March 2023: 5.22″ 17th Wettest
April 2023: 3.17″ Tied for 64th Wettest

Snowfall By Month
October 2022: Trace Tied for 2nd Least Snowy
November 2022: 0.3″ Tied for 5th Least Snowy
December 2022: 5.8″ 38th Snowiest
January 2023: 5.4″ Tied for 39th Least Snowy
February 2023: Trace 1st Least Snowy
March 2023: 1.0″ Tied for 10th Least Snowy
April 2023: Trace Tied for 2nd Least Snowy

February’s Trace was the lowest ever recorded for the month.

Average Snow Depth By Month
October 2022: 0.0″
November 2022: 0.0″
December 2022: 0.7″
January 2023: 0.1″
February 2023: 0.0″
March 2023: 0.0″
April 2023: 0.0″



Maximum High By Month
October 2022: 77 on the 6th, 23rd and 24th
November 2022: 77 on the 5th
December 2022: 65 on the 30th
January 2023: 62 on the 3rd
February 2023: 73 on the 23rd
March 2023: 75 on the 1st
April 2023: 84 on the 20th

Maximum High Records
-The 77 on November 5th was a record for the date, beating the old record of 76 set in 1977.
– The 65 on December 30th was a record for the date, beating the old record of 63 set in 1964.
-The 72 on February 9th was a record for the date, beating the old record of 66 set in 2001.
-The 72 on February 15th was a record for the date, beating the old record of 70 set in 1954.
-The 73 on February 23rd was a record for the date, beating the old record of 72 set in 2017.
-The 75 on March 1st was a record for the date, beating the old record of 65 set in 1972 and 1997.

Minimum High By Month
October 2022: 45 on the 18th
November 2022: 30 on the 20th
December 2022: 14 on the 24th
January 2023: 26 on the 31st
February 2023: 30 on the 1st
March 2023: 33 on the 14th
April 2023: 46 on the 2nd and 17th

Maximum Low By Month
October 2022: 57 on the 31st
November 2022: 62 on the 5th
December 2022: 54 on the 30th
January 2023: 56 on the 3rd
February 2023: 47 on the 15th
March 2023: 47 on the 23rd
April 2023: 60 on the 5th

Maximum Low Records
-The 62 on November 6th was a record for the date, beating the old record of 61 set in 1977.
-The 49 on January 2nd tied the record for the date, matching 1997, 2000 and 2005.
-The 56 on January 3rd was a record for the date, beating the old record of 55 set in 1997.

Minimum Low By Month
October 2022: 32 on the 20th
November 2022: 17 on the 20th
December 2022: -7 on the 23rd
January 2023: 16 on the 15th
February 2023: 12 on the 4th
March 2023: 18 on the 19th
April 2023: 29 on the 25th

Highest Daily Precipitation by Month
October 2022: 0.15″ on the 12th and 30th
November 2022: 1.14″ on the 11th
December 2022: 0.44″ on the 15th
January 2023: 0.73″ on the 12th
February 2023: 0.73″ on the 27th
March 2023: 1.6″ on the 3rd
April 2023: 0.91″ on the 5th

Precipitation Records
-The 1.14″ on November 11th set a record for the date, beating the old record of 1.03″ set in 1995.
-The 1.60″ on March 3rd set a record for the date, beating the old record of 1.31″ set in 2020.

Highest Daily Snowfall By Month
October 2022: Trace on the 18th
November 2022: 0.2″ on the 12th
December 2022: 4.9″ on the 23rd
January 2023: 3.0″ on the 22nd
February 2023: Trace on the 3rd and 17th
March 2023: 0.4″ on the 12th and 13th
April 2023: Trace on the 17th

Deepest Snow Depth By Month
October 2022: 0.0″
November 2022: Trace on the 13th
December 2022: 4″ on the 23rd, 24th, 25th and 27th
January 2023: 2″ on the 23rd
February 2023: Trace on the 1st
March 2023: 1″ on the 14th
April 2023: 0.0″

Average Daily Wind Speed by Month in MPH
October 2022: 7.9
November 2022: 8.2
December 2022: 8.0
January 2023: 8.4
February 2023: 9.7
March 2023: 10.0
April 2023: 8.1

Highest Wind Gust by Month in MPH
October 2022: 38 on the 26th
November 2022: 44 on the 27th and 30th
December 2022: 46 on the 23rd
January 2023: 54 on the 19th
February 2023: 49 on the 9th
March 2023: 59 on the 3rd
April 2023: 50 on the 1st

Clear Days by Month
October 2022: 8 25.81%
November 2022: 6 20.0%
December 2022: 2 6.45%
January 2023: 0 0.0%
February 2023: 4 14.29%
March 2023: 5 16.13%
April 2023: 5 16.67%

Partly Cloudy Days by Month
October 2022: 17 54.84%
November 2022: 13 43.33%
December 2022: 10 32.26%
January 2023: 13 41.94%
February 2023: 15 53.57%
March 2023: 15 48.39%
April 2023: 12 40.0%

Cloudy Days by Month
October 2022: 6 19.35%
November 2022: 11 36.67%
December 2022: 19 61.29%
January 2023: 18 58.06%
February 2023: 9 32.14%
March 2023: 11 35.48%
April 2023: 13 43.33%



The Week in Review 2




In Week in Review 2, we find that the FBI has finally released the full crime numbers for 2017 for all cities. How did Columbus fare? Well, it was a decidedly mixed bag. Total murders were their highest ever, at 143, but the rate fell quite short of the record set back in 1991. So far for 2018, murder is behind 2017’s rate by about 22%, so it’s a good improvement, but still not even close to where it should be.

Other violent crime figures 2016 to 2017
-Rape continued its multi-year rise in the city, reaching 919 incidents. This was a 6% increase over 2016.
-Assaults were up 4% over 2016, but in the context of still being one of the lowest totals in the past 30 years.
-Robberies were down almost 8.5% over 2016.
-Despite the rises in most types of violent crime, the drop in robberies meant overall violent crime dropped by about 0.5%.
Property crime figures 2016 to 2017
-Burglaries were down more than 8%.
-Larceny thefts were down about 2.9%
-Motor vehicle thefts were up 17.6%, so not a good trend, but still less than half the rate it was 15-20 years ago.
-Overall property crime was down about 2% versus 2016.

And if you think this year’s been particularly wet, you are right! Through October 1st, Columbus is having its 3rd wettest year on record. Only 1882 and 1890 are ahead of 2018 at this point, and by barely 1″. 2018 at this point is running almost 14″ above normal.
Top 10 Wettest Years Through October 1st
1. 1882: 44.55″
2. 1890: 43.56″
3. 2018: 43.31″
4. 1979: 42.17″
5. 2003: 41.58″
6. 2011: 41.12″
7. 1990: 39.10″
8. 1949: 38.54″
9. 2004: 38.46″
10. 1996: 37.46″
It is surprising how many recent years are on this list. Still with 3 months to go, the pattern could break, but it’s very unlikely that 2018 doesn’t end up in the top 10. Here are the top 10 wettest full years.
1. 2011: 54.96″
2. 1990: 53.16″
3. 1882: 51.30″
4. 1890: 50.73″
5. 2004: 49.27″
6. 1979: 49.17″
7. 2003: 49.03″
8. 1883: 48.88″
9. 1881: 46.99″
10. 2017: 46.61″

I guess it could always be worse…
The week in review 2 Columbus, Ohio