Warmest in a month

Highs across the area Friday reached into the 50s (and some places the lower 60s), making it the warmest day since November 30.

Normal high is 32°, and the record was 66° set back in 1875.

Much colder air will return over the next couple of days with highs back to near seasonal levels.

Last-minute December warmth

After quite a cold December, the overall upper-air pattern will reconfigure itself to allow some of the warmest air of the month to arrive for the final few days of 2010.

Eastern Snow Storm

Cold December Continues...

Even though our highs are not as cold as they were in the past week or so, they continue to run below normal for this time of year.  There will be a slight moderation in temps the end of next week, but the month will end up well below normal.

By the end of next week, December will have featured about 90% of the days with below normal highs.  Only three days this month (Dec 10, 11, 12) achieved highs above normal.  Those days are also the only time the temp went above 33°.

Snowfall is running a little below normal.  The current tally for the season is 5.8" at Toledo Express Airport, which is about 3" below normal.

A White Christmas

Last year, after many days of cold weather and snow cover, rain and highs in the 40s eradicated our snow cover on Christmas Day.  In 2008, it was cold with some flakes and temps in the 20s, and there was a few inches of snow cover.  Two days later, the high hit 65°!

This year, temperatures will allow the current snow cover to remain in place for much of the viewing area into this weekend.

The following maps and tables show the percent probabilities for a snow depth of at least 1 inch on Christmas morning, as well as the probabilities for a depth of at least 5 inches and 10 inches.  The Dataset for the period of 1961-1990 was used to compute these statistics.

***A white Christmas is defined by having at least 1" of snow on the ground Christmas morning***

Probability of             1"            5"           10"
   CINCINNATI              11%              4%             0%
   CLEVELAND              50%            17%            0%
   COLUMBUS                 23%              0%            0%
   DAYTON                      27%              3%            0%
   FINDLAY                     41%              0%            0%
   MANSFIELD               47%              3%            0%
   TOLEDO                 57%         3%          0%
   YOUNGSTOWN         50%            10%           0%
   ZANESVILLE              21%               3%           0%





ON ANY GIVE YEAR, TOLEDO HAS A 57% CHANCE OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS. 

Winter solstice

It has felt like winter for awhile now, but the astronomical start of winter occurs today.

The winter solstice marks the time when the direct rays of the sun reach its most southern point on the globe, which is the Tropic of Capricorn.  This occurs at 6:38 PM EST today.

Deep Freeze

Even though it is supposed to be cold this time of year, it has been much colder than normal.  Normal high is 34°, normal low is 21°.

Temperatures have been below freezing since 9 am on December 12.

Some areas will crack freezing Tuesday afternoon, but temps will stay in the mid 20s to near 30° the rest of the week into early next week.

Total Lunar Eclipse Tonight

Clouds tonight will not be helpful in viewing the total lunar eclipse tonight.

Here is a link about the event

Travel Trouble

Even after the snow is done from the storm system, lake-effect snows will continue into Monday and Tuesday.

The bitterly cold arctic air will flow over the unfrozen Great Lakes, unleashing another round of heavy snow.  Just like last week, the same areas will get targeted.

Northwest Indiana, southwest Michigan, northeast Ohio, northwest Pennsylvania, and northwest New York will see multiple hours of heavy lake-effect snow bands.

Final totals by late Tuesday (including the storm snow) could be in the range of 2 to 3 feet in some areas. 

While not as heavy, Erie and Huron counties could receive 1-3" of accumulation Monday evening with locally higher amounts.  Some additional light snow is possible Tuesday before the lake-effect shuts off.

Windy & Quite Cold

Early Sunday AM update

The cold air running a little behind schedule, and the precip is turning scattered at times...so accums early this morning will be none or not much. However, we will still see snow developing later this morning, and it will turn steady at times this afternoon. Still looking at the multiple inches of snow today into tonight....just dropping the amounts from last night/early morning.

Saturday evening update

With some additional hours of snowfall Sunday, we are increasing the accumulation forecast by a couple of inches. Winter weather advisories and winter storm warnings have been issued for the area. Keep an eye on the main forecast page, since the accum forecast for Sunday/Sunday night will get tweaked a lot more this evening and tomorrow.

Tracking More Snow

A weak system will produce light snowfall across the area on Friday.  There will not be a lot of moisture with this system, so any accumulations would be minor.

We are watching a second system for the second half of the weekend.  A major storm will develop this week in the central/southern Plains, and track into the area Saturday night and Sunday.  The exact track is still not 100% clear...but it looks like there might be a period of rain or a mix before changing over to all snow during Sunday.

We will continue to update this the rest of the week.  If the storm takes a more northerly track, we would see more rain and less snow.  If the storm goes farther south, we may see  a decent snowfall.

Regardless of the storm's track, a huge batch of cold air will follow in its wake Monday into Tuesday.  Highs then might not break much above 20 -- the coldest since late January.

Lake-Effect Totals

The snow continues to pile up across NE Ohio, NW Pennsylvania, SW Michigan, and NW Indiana.  Click here for the latest snowfall reports

Lake-Effect Snows

Stronger north to northwesterly winds will take hold Sunday night into Monday and Tuesday.  Much colder air will travel over the (relatively speaking) warmer lake waters.

Conditions will be very favorable for lake-effect snow showers.  Minor accumulations are possible in spots, but our eastern counties and extreme western counties (closer the Indiana border) may pick up a few inches of accumulation over the entire Sunday night to Tuesday time period.  Erie & Huron counties have the potential for heavier accumulation.

If you have travel plans during this period...northwest Indiana, northeast Ohio, northwest PA & NY will see heavier snow totals.  Periods of snow, sometimes squalls, will affect similar areas over and over.  Snowfall accumulations in these areas could easily exceed 10 inches by Tuesday morning, with possible higher totals (15"+) in some spots.

Updated forecasts and advisories can be found here.

A November Snow Record...Almost.

You may have noticed as November has drawn to a close a lack of snow across the area. Only twice in recorded history have we gone through November without any snow. November of 1998 and 2001 both were completely void of any snowfall. This past November looked as if it was going to be the third month on record until late in the evening on the 30th of November a Trace of snow was reported at Toledo Express Airport as a powerful cold front passed through.



This made for the 19th time the month of November saw only a trace of snow. This is well below the average for the month which is 2.6" of snow.