Winter 2019-20 Review

The winter of 2019-2020 in northern Ohio and northwestern Pennsylvania was fairly benign with below-normal snowfall totals across the region and warm spells during the early months of 2020. The main snow event of the season was November 11-13, 2019, when an arctic air mass entered the region. Ahead of this system, widespread snow moved through Northeast Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania with 6 to 10 inches of snow falling upon the region. As colder air moved in, efficient lake effect snow developed with an additional 6 to 12 inches of snow through the same areas and portions of Geauga and Ashtabula Counties received a foot and a half to two feet of snow by the evening of the 12^th. If significant snowfall wasn’t enough of an opening to winter, temperatures fell into the teens across much of the area with some single digits into Northwest Ohio, setting record lows across the region.

The rest of the winter season snowfall was marginal at best. Several minor lake effect snow events lashed at the Snow Belt region of Ohio and Pennsylvania through December with minor accumulations through the end of the month. As the calendar changed to 2020, January had a warm start to the year and temperatures in the 60s to near 70 by the second weekend of the month. Colder temperatures returned for the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday weekend and a larger lake effect snow event hit Northeast Ohio, lingering around the Cleveland metro area. Some areas in Ohio picked up another foot and a half to two feet of snow. Outside of this event, conditions remained dry and temperatures were slightly above normal to allow for January 2020 to be a Top 10 warmest January on record. Another lake effect snow event hit Ohio and Pennsylvania on February 7-8 and some thundersnow was reported in the Cleveland and Erie areas. The final significant lake effect snow event of the season was in the last days of February and several days of lake effect snow allowed for one to two feet of accumulation to end meteorological winter.

The average temperature for the winter season (December-February) was in the mid 30s for most climate sites, which was a top 10 warmest winter on record for many locations, largely skewed by a warm early January. Warm temperatures were the theme for March and April with several days with highs in the 60s and 70s and March 2020 ended up being a Top 10 warmest March for several locations. While an early spring warm spell would normally end the snow threat, a cold spell around Mother’s Day weekend allowed for some light snow in the Snow Belt region and resulted in some of the latest accumulating snowfall on record.  

Summary of Snowfall at Climate Sites 

(Preliminary until Certified by NCEI)

Listing of Snow Totals by Official NWS CO-OP Observers:

Listing of Selected Snow Totals by NWS Cleveland Snow Spotters: