Winter 2021-2022 Review




Winter 2021-2022 Review Columbus, Ohio

Time for the Winter 2021-2022 review! Overall, this past winter was much warmer than normal, but almost entirely because of a scorching December. This brought only about 50% of normal snowfall for the season despite being one of the wettest winters on record. This review includes new data not given for past winter reviews- wind and cloud information.

December-February Only
Average High: 41.7 Tied for 19th Warmest
Average Low: 24.7 Tied for 38th Warmest
Mean: 33.2 Tied for 27th Warmest
Precipitation: 13.24″ 6th Wettest
Snowfall: 11.6″ Tied for 32nd Least Snowy
Average Daily Snow Depth: 0.4″ Tied for 5th Lowest
Largest Snowstorm: 4.5″ on 2/3-2/4.
# of 32 or Below Highs: 26 Tied for 20th Fewest
# of 32 or Below Lows: 69 Tied for 17th Fewest
# of Measurable Precipitation Days: 33 Tied for 9th Fewest
# of Measurable Snowfall Days: 12 Tied for 8th Fewest
Highest Average Daily Wind Speed in MPH: 18.6 on January 5th
Highest Wind Gust in MPH: 54 on December 11th
# of Clear Days: 11 12.2%
# of Partly Cloudy Days: 43 47.8%
# of Cloudy Days: 36 40.0%

The core of the winter was warm and wet, but with relatively few precipitation days that just brought higher individual totals. Snowfall was way below normal for the period, with no snow events at or above 6″ for the 6th winter in a row. The last time a snow event dropped at least 6″ was on February 21, 2015. 6″ events, historically, have occurred about every 2 years, so in the last 7 years, Columbus should’ve had at least three.

Entire Cold Season: October-April
Average High: 52.1 Tied for 8th Warmest
Average Low: 33.7 Tied for 21st Warmest
Mean: 42.9 Tied for 12th Warmest
Precipitation: 24.32″ Tied for 20th Wettest
Snowfall: 14.5″ 27th Lowest
Average Snow Depth: 0.2″ Tied for 3rd Lowest
Largest Snowstorm: 4.5″ on 2/3-2/4
# of 32 or Below Highs: 27 Tied for 17th Fewest
# of 32 or Below Lows: 100 Tied for 19th Fewest
# of Measurable Precipitation Days: 82 Tied for 17th Fewest
# of Measurable Snowfall Days: 17 Tied for 8th Fewest
Highest Average Daily Wind Speed in MPH: 18.6 on January 5th
Highest Wind Gust in MPH: 54 on December 11th
# of Clear Days: 23 10.8%
# of Partly Cloudy Days: 105 49.6%
# of Cloudy Days: 84 39.6%

The overall cold season was very warm and wet just as the core winter was, with a very warm October and December.

Average High By Month
October 2021: 70.6 Tied for 10th Warmest
November 2021: 50.9 Tied for 47th Coldest
December 2021: 50.5 3rd Warmest
January 2022: 33.5 Tied for 30th Coldest
February 2022: 41.2 Tied for 35th Warmest
March 2022: 56.8 Tied for 11th Warmest
April 2022: 60.1 Tied for 36th Coldest

Average Low By Month
October 2021: 53.9 1st Warmest
November 2021: 32.7 Tied for 25th Coldest
December 2021: 33.1 9th Warmest
January 2022: 17.2 28th Coldest
February 2022: 23.7 55th Coldest
March 2022: 33.8 35th Warmest
April 2022: 40.9 Tied for 32nd Coldest

Mean By Month
October 2021: 62.2 Tied for 3rd Warmest
November 2021: 41.8 Tied for 33rd Coldest
December 2021: 41.8 4th Warmest
January 2022: 25.3 29th Coldest
February 2022: 32.5 46th Warmest
March 2022: 45.3 Tied for 20th Warmest
April 2022: 50.5 Tied for 34th Coldest

Precipitation By Month
October 2021: 3.57″ Tied for 28th Wettest
November 2021: 1.90″ 40th Driest
December 2021: 4.51″ 13th Wettest
January 2022: 2.61″ 59th Wettest
February 2022: 6.12″ Tied for 4th Wettest
March 2022: 2.29″ 37th Driest
April 2022: 3.32″ 58th Wettest

Snowfall By Month
October 2021: 0.0″ Tied for 1st Least Snowy
November 2021: 0.6″ Tied for 8th Least Snowy
December 2021: 0.5″ Tied for 7th Least Snowy
January 2022: 6.3″ Tied for 45th Least Snowy
February 2022: 4.8″ Tied for 35th Least Snowy
March 2022: 2.2″ Tied for 22nd Least Snowy
April 2022: 0.1″ Tied for 3rd Least Snowy

Average Snow Depth By Month
October 2021: 0.0″
November 2021: 0.0″
December 2021: Trace
January 2022: 0.5″
February 2022: 0.7″
March 2022: 0.1″
April 2022: 0.0″



Maximum High By Month
October 2021: 86 on the 14th
November 2021: 69 on the 8th and 11th
December 2021: 65 on the 11th and 27th
January 2022: 59 on the 1st
February 2022: 62 on the 21st
March 2022: 80 on the 30th
April 2022: 84 on the 23rd

Maximum High Records
The 86 on October 14th tied the record for the date, last set in 1897.

Minimum High By Month
October 2021: 51 on the 27th
November 2021: 37 on the 14th
December 2021: 27 on the 7th
January 2022: 19 on the 29th
February 2022: 21 on the 5th
March 2022: 28 on the 12th
April 2022: 41 on the 18th

Maximum Low By Month
October 2021: 68 on the 7th
November 2021: 48 on the 17th
December 2021: 49 on the 25th
January 2022: 41 on the 1st
February 2022: 49 on the 22nd
March 2022: 54 on the 6th
April 2022: 62 on the 24th

Maximum Low Records
-The 65 on October 14th was a record for the date, beating the old record of 62 set in 1879.
-The 64 on October 15th was a record for the date, beating the old record of 62 set in 1897.

Minimum Low By Month
October 2021: 38 on the 27th
November 2021: 22 on the 23rd
December 2021: 20 on the 7th and 23rd
January 2022: 0 on the 26th
February 2022: 11 on the 14th
March 2022: 15 on the 13th
April 2022: 25 on the 2nd

Highest Daily Precipitation By Month
October 2021: 0.82″ on the 24th
November 2021: 0.66″ on the 11th
December 2021: 1.44″ on the 6th
January 2022: 1.34″ on the 1st
February 2022: 1.83″ on the 17th
March 2022: 1.30″ on the 7th
April 2022: 0.64″ on the 18th

Precipitation Records
-The 1.44″ on December 6th was a record for the date, beating the old record of 1.10″ in 1971.
-The 0.82″ on December 25th was a record for the date, beating the old record of 0.79″ in 2009.
-The 1.34″ on January 1st was a record for the date, beating the old record of 1.28″ in 1948.
-The 1.83″ on February 17th was a record for the date, beating the old record of 0.74″ in 1910.
-The 1.40″ on February 22nd was a record for the date, beating the old record of 0.96″ in 1971.

Highest Daily Snowfall By Month
October 2021: 0.0″
November 2021: 0.4″ on the 14th
December 2021: 0.3″ on the 7th
January 2022: 1.7″ on the 16th
February 2022: 3.3″ on the 3rd
March 2022: 2.1″ on the 11th
April 2022: 0.1″ on the 1st

Deepest Snow Depth By Month
October 2021: 0″
November 2021: Trace on the 26th and 27th
December2021: Trace on the 8th
January 2022: 2″ on the 17th, 18th and 25th
February 2022: 4″ on the 5th and 6th
March 2022: 2″ on the 12th
April 2022: 0″

Average Daily Wind Speed by Month in MPH
October 2021: 7.3
November 2021: 7.8
December 2021: 7.8
January 2022: 9.1
February 2022: 9.2
March: 2022: 10.0
April: 2022: 9.5

Highest Wind Gust by Month in MPH
October 2021: 40 on the 17th
November 2021: 40 on the 12th
December 2021: 54 on the 11th
January: 2022: 40 on the 5th
February 2022: 41 on the 17th
March 2022: 45 on the 7th
April 2022: 42 on the 25th

Clear Days by Month
October 2021: 3 9.6%
November 2021: 5 16.7%
December 2021: 4 12.9%
January 2022: 3 9.6%
February 2022: 4 14.3%
March 2022: 2 6.5%
April 2022: 2 6.7%

Partly Cloudy Days by Month
October 2021: 14 45.2%
November 2021: 15 50.0%
December 2021: 13 41.9%
January 2022: 16 51.7%
February 2022: 14 50.0%
March 2022: 18 58.0%
April 2022: 15 50.0%

Cloudy Days by Month
October 2021: 14 45.2%
November 2021: 10 33.3%
December 2021: 14 45.2%
January 2022: 12 38.7%
February 2022: 10 35.7%
March 2022: 11 35.5%
April 2022: 13 43.3%

The following file contains a full daily record of the December-February winter period.
Winter 2021-2022 Dailies

Both the winter season records page and Wilmington National Weather Service provide additional winter weather history and information.

The previous review is at Winter 2020-2021.



January 1879 Arctic Outbreak



January 1879 arctic outbreak

After a generally cold December, the January 1879 arctic outbreak would begin the new year, leading to Columbus’ 2nd coldest temperature ever officially recorded. The outbreak began on January 2nd, when a strong cold front moved in from the northwest in the early afternoon hours. The temperature fell rapidly during the evening, reaching a low of -13 on the 2nd for a total drop that day of 42 degrees. The core of the cold air moved across Ohio during the day of the 3rd, so temperatures warmed very little. Highs across the state were in the single digits south to below zero across the norther 2/3rds. Columbus had a rare below zero high of -4, which is the 2nd coldest January high on record and the 3rd coldest high of any month. The low on the 3rd was a frigid -20. This low stood as the coldest temperature in Columbus for 115 years, only being surpassed during the great arctic outbreak of January 1994, during which the temperature fell to -22.

The strong front was very moisture starved, and only a few tenths to an inch to an inch of snow fell with its passage.

Temperatures remained in the single digits for two more days before a gradual warming commenced. By the 8th temperatures went above freezing. The rest of January 1879 was fairly tame. 16 days after the 8th had highs of 35 or greater.

Of note is that the temperature of -20 occurred two more times before the end of the 19th century, in January 1884 and February 1899.