Winter 2015-16 Review - A Warm El Nino Winter

Winter 2015-'16 was greatly influenced by a strong El Nino, one of the strongest El Ninos ever. A strong El Nino usually produces warm winters in northern Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania and this was no exception. December was the warmest ever, some 13 degrees warmer than normal. There was essentially no snow in December outside of the snowbelt. The warm weather eventually gave way to a more seasonable January. February had some cold days early on, but by February 20th we were on our way to an early start to Spring. March was warm but just when we thought that Spring was here to stay, we had an April cold snap! Most areas had more snow in April 2016 than in March.

Winter seasonal snow totals were considerably less than normal except in the snowbelt where totals were just a little shy of normal. One snow storm did clip the area on February 16th. Six to ten inches of wet snow fell from Youngstown and Ravenna to Pymatuning Lake and northwest Pennsylvania. There was a heavy lake effect snow on January 18th and 19th when two feet (or more) of snow fell in parts of the snowbelt. A couple of other lake effect snows produced local amounts of 6 to 12 inches. A late season snow on May 15th coated the ground across parts of northeast Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania.

Summary of Snowfall at Climate Sites 2015-'16
	Oct 15	Nov 15	Dec 15	Jan 16	Feb 16	Mar 16	Apr 16	May 16	2015-2016
Toledo	0.0	3.5	T	5.9	5.6	2.7	8.7	0.0	26.4
Mansfield	0.0	0.0	0.2	8.7	11.5	3.0	4.2	0.0	27.6
Cleveland	0.1	0.8	0.3	7.6	13.0	3.2	7.8	T	32.8
Akron-Canton	0.0	T	0.2	6.1	16.4	2.4	5.1	T	30.2
Youngstown	0.4	T	0.8	11.8	18.6	4.3	8.8	0.2	44.7
Erie PA	T	0.5	4.9	38.4	23.4	1.1	2.9	T	71.2

Seasonal snowfall totals 2015-'16 for northern Ohio and Erie and Crawford Counties in northwest Pennsylvania from volunteer snow observers (listed geographgically generally from west to east).

Port Clinton 2.5W                           16.4
Fremont 2.2ENE                             23.6
Tiffin 5.2SE                                     16.6
Sandusky                                        13.5
New Washington 5S (Crawford)     22.4
Mount Gilead 4.9ESE                     19.4
Galion                                              20.1
Berlin Heights 0.4N                         23.7
Huron 3.1ESE                                 23.9
Bellevue 0.6N                                 29.7
New London                                    36.7
Sullivan 1.1NNE                              26.3
Mansfield (city)                                24.6
Fredericktown 4NNW (Knox)          16.3
Elyria                                               30.3
Sheffield Lake                                 34.7
Brunswick                                       39.7
Lodi                                                 26.0
Lakewood                                       32.8
Cleveland – Old Brooklyn               27.4
Garfield Hts                                    33.3
Parma 1.9NNW                              36.9
Parma 1.8 SE                                 43.3
Sagamore Hills                               44.6
Munroe Falls                                   35.9
Cuyahoga Falls                               35.1
Fairlawn                                          36.9
Stow                                                37.6
Clinton                                             30.6
Alliance                                            26.5
Waynesburg                                    23.9
Minerva                                           26.2
Euclid                                              41.1
North Royalton                                43.4
Maple Heights                                 40.1
Shaker Heights                               50.0
Solon                                              57.5
Twinsburg                                       55.8
Hiram                                              57.0
Hiram Rapids 1E                            50.2
Kent                                                42.2
Ravenna                                         32.4
Newton Falls                                   41.8
Warren (NW side)                           31.5
Kirtland                                            69.3
Madison                                           66.7
South Madison                                 73.0
Chardon (waterplant)                      102.1
Hambden Twp (Geauga)               108.0
Montville                                          102.0
Burton                                               62.0
Geneva                                             69.1
Orwell 1E                                          48.3
Conneaut (@I-90)                             89.3
Fairview, PA                                      71.1
Girard, PA                                         70.8
MillCreek Twp, PA (Erie)                  96.8
Amity Twp, PA (Erie)                       101.0
Edinboro, PA                                   120.0
Colt Station, PA (Erie)                     133.0
Northeast, PA (S of I-90)                 129.0
Corry, PA                                         156.0
Springboro, PA                                  83.4
Meadville, PA                                    75.3
Canadohta Lake, PA                         94.4

Thanks - Volunteer Snow Observer Network, National Weather Service,
CoCoRaHS/Pennsylvania Frost and NWS COOP Observers.

Note that in some cases, site values are averaged when more than one observer reports per location. Observers are mostly volunteers and values can vary depending on the specific topography and land use at each site. Observations are generally reported every 12 or 24 hours.